THE 

SCOTISH  GAEL; 

OR, 

AS  PRESERVED  AMONG  THE  HIGHLANDERS, 

BEING  AN  HISTORICAL  AND  DESCRIPTIVE  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

INHABITANTS,  ANTIQUITIES,  AND  NATIONAL  PECULIARITIES 

OF  SCOTLAND; 

MORE  PARnCDLARLY  OF  THE  NORTHERN,  OR  GAELIC  PARTS  OF  THE  COUNTRY,  WHERE  THB 
SINGULAR  HABITS  OF  THE  ABORIGINAL  CELTS  ARE  MOST  TENACIOUSLY  RETAINED . 


BY   JAMES  LOGAN, 

FELLOW  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  ANTIQUARIES  OF  SCOTLAND. 


«*  The  most  interesting  and  important  of  all  history  is  the  history  of  manners." 

WARTON 

FIFTH  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


tOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL.  WASS. 

HARTFORD: 


S.    ANDRUS    AND  SON. 
1846. 


50.177 


HIS  MOST  EXCELLENT  MAJESTY, 
WIIililAlTI  IV., 

KING  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND 
8fc.  Sfc.  Sfc. 

SIRE, 

It  is  with  the  deepest  gratitude  for  so  distinguished  an  honor, 
that  I  presume  to  lay  these  Researches  at  Your  Majesty's  feet. 

The  Work  relates  to  a  people  who  have  greatly  contributed  to 
raise  the  renown  of  Your  Majesty's  arms  to  the  pre-eminence  they 
have  attained.  The  history  and  character  of  that  people,  therefore, 
deserve  the  attention  of  every  Patriot;  and  your  subjects,  Sire,  feel  a 
just  pride  in  being  able  to  call  your  Majesty  a  Patriot  King. 

That  Your  Majesty's  reign  may  be  long  and  happy,  must  be 
the  ardent  wish  of  every  Briton;  and  I  can  say  for  my  countrymen,  in 
particular,  that  none  are  more  devotedly  attached  to  Your  Majesty's 
Person  and  Family;  and  that  no  portion  of  Your  Majesty's  Subjects 
would  more  cheerfully  venture  their  lives  for  the  honor  and  defence 
of  their  beloved  So.vereign,  and  for  the  support  of  the  Constitution 
under  which  they  enjoy  so  many  blessings.  For  myself,  I  rejoice  in 
being  so  highly  favored  as  to  be  graciously  permitted  this  public  oppor- 
tunity of  expressing  the  profound  respect  with  which 

I  am, 

SIRE, 
Your  Majesty's 
Most  devoted  and  most  humble 
Subject  and  Servant, 

JAMES  LOGAN 


1.  Highland  Chiefs,  (copper-plate)  Frontispiece. 

2.  Ensign  of  Scotland,  (Vignette)  T%tle-page. 

3.  Baa  Relief,  from  Trajan's  Column  Page  19 
4  An  Ancient  Briton  ...  -  39 
5.  A  curious  inscribed  Obelisk  -  -  -  62 
§.  A  remarkable  Cromleach  -  -  -  63 
7.  Various  Stone  and  Metal  Implements  -  72 
8  to  12.  Figures  illustrating  the  various  an- 


cient modes  of  dressing  the  Hair  38,  73, 84, 


85, 

101 

13.  Tinwald,  in  the  Isle  of  Man 

102 

14.  The  Bass  of  Inverury      -      .      -  - 

146 

15.  Stone  Circle  at  Tyrebachar 

150 

16.  A  Gallic  Female  and  Celtiberian  - 

151 

17.  Fragment  of  a  Gallic  Mercury 

152 

18.  Bonnets  and  Purses,  (copper-plate) 

177 

19.  A  Silver  ornamented  Brooch 

180 

20.  Small  Antique  ditto  .... 

184 

23.  Target,  Helmet,  and  various  Weapons 

185 

Helmets  of  different  forms     -      -  - 

187 

23.  Highland  Targets,  (copper-plate) 

190 

24.  Shields  of  various  Celtic  Auxiliaries  in  the 

Koman  service,  (copper-plate) 

195 

25.  Clubs  used  in  war  by  the  old  Britons  - 

202 

26.  Stone  Weapons,  (copper-plate) 

203 

27,  28.  Lochaber  Axes  .... 

204 

29.  Spears  and  other  Weapons     -      .  - 

207 

30.  Ancient  British  Sword       -      .  - 

208 

31.  Two-handed,  and  Broad  Sword     -      -  213 

39.  An  ancient  Dirk,  and  Sheath  with  Knife 

and  Fork       -      -      -      -      -  219 


33.  A  Curious  Belt       -     -     -     -  Page  219 

34.  A  Highland  Pistol       .     -  '  -      .  238 

35.  Plan  of  a  Caledonian  Fortress       -      -  244 

36.  Trophy,  composed  of  Highland  Arms  and 

Dress  -  253 

37.  View  of  Dun-Trod  dan  in  Glenelg  254 

38.  Section  of  Mousa  and  Dun-Dornghil      -  S63 

39.  Do.  showing  the  Galleries  -      -      -  263 

40.  View  of  Dun-Dornghil  in  Strathmore    .  269 

41.  Bas  Relief  of  a  Gallic  Boar  Hunt       -  270 

42.  Horns  of  the  Moose  Deer       -      -      -  284 

43.  Highlander  employed  at  the  Cascrom  285 

44.  Agricultural  Implements       -      -      -  315 

45.  Domestic  Utensils       ...      -  316 

46.  SnufF  Horn  and  its  Appendages     -      -  360 

47.  An  Ancient  Biorlin  -  -  -  -  361 
48, 49.  British  Coins      .      -      -      -   368,  369 

50.  Funeral  Urn  and  other  Vessels  -      -  380 

51.  Figures  of  two  Druids  -  -  -  -  381 
52  to  55.  Specimens  of  Music    -      -      -  413 

56.  The  Royal  Arms  of  Scotland,  (copper- 

plate)  433 

57.  Reeds  of  the  Bagpipe      -      -      -      -  434 

58.  Harp  of  Queen  Mary   -      -      -      -  445 

59.  Stonehenge  restored  _  _  -  -  .446 
GO.  Plan  of  the  Temple  at  Classerness  in  Lewis  489 

61.  Obelisk,  with  Hieroglyphic  Sculptures  490 

62.  Mystical  Figure   -----  497 

63.  Illuminated  Capital,  from  a  Gaelic  MS.  500 

64.  Tartan  of  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  Sussex, 

(copper-plate)   -  -      -  500 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

OBJECT  OF  THE  PRESENT  WORK  AND  ACCOUNT  OP  ITS  FORMATION, 
WITH  SOME  NOTICE  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORICAL  ANNALS,  &C.  - 

CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE  CELTIC   RACE,  COMPOSING   THE  VARIOUS    NATIONS  THAT 
FORMERLY  INHABITED  EUROPE  ------ 

CHAPTER  II. 

BRITAIN  ^  THF.  ORIGIN    OF    ITS  ANCIENT    INHABITANTS  HISTORI- 
CALLY DEDUCED  -------- 

CHAPTER  III. 

APPEARANCE  OF    THE    COUNTRY  EXTENT  AND    PRODUCTIONS  OF 

THE  ABORIGINAL    FORESTS  ------ 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CELTIC  POPULATION  PERSONS  AND  DISPOSITIONS  OF  THE  CELTS 

 THEIR  MILITARY  EDUCATION  AND  INSTITUTIONS   ANEC- 
DOTES OF  THEIR  BRAVERY  AND  HEROISM  EXPLOITS  OF  THE 

ANCIENT   CALEDONIANS  AND   PRESENT  SCOTS  -         -  - 

CHAPTER  V. 

CUSTOMS  IN  WAR  AND  MILITARY  TACTICS  -         -  -  - 

CHAPTER  VI. 

ON  THE    DRESS    OF  THE  ANCIENT    CELTS,   AND    COSTUME  OF  THE 
PRESENT  GAEL  -  . 


e 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

or  THE  ARMS  AND  MILITARY  ACCOUTREMENTS  OF  THE  CELTS    -  185 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Of  THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  THE  CELTS       -----  254 

CHAPTER  IX. 

OF  ANIMALS,   AND  THE  MANNER  OF  HUNTING     -         -         -         -  270 

CHAPTER  X. 

or  THE  PASTORAL  STATE  AND  OF  AGRICULTURE  -         -         -  285 

CHAPTER  XI. 

OF  THE  FOOD  OF  THE  CELTS  THEIR  COOKERY,  LIQUORS,  MEDICI- 
NAL  KNOWLEDGE,   HEALTH,    AND   LONGEVITY        -  316 

CHAPTER  XII. 

OP  THE    SHIPPING,  COMMERCE,   MONEY,   AND    MANUFACTURES  OP 

THE  CELTS         -         --         --  --         -  S6l 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

POETRY  AND  MUSIC  -         -  -  -         -  -         -  -381 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

RELIGION,   MARRIAGE   CEREMONIES,   AND  FUNERAL  RITES    -         -  446 

CHAPTER  XV. 

OP  THE   KNOWLEDGE  OF   LETTERS    AMONG  THE   CELTS  -  490 

APPENDIX. 

TABLE  OF  CLAN  TARTANS  -----  -  501 

INDEX  _-.  -         --         --         --         -  509 


INTRODUCTION. 


OBJECT  OF  THE  PRESENT  WORK,  AND  ACCOUNT  OF  ITS  FOR 
MATION,  WITH  SOME  NOTICE  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORICAL 
ANNALS,  &c. 

The  Scots'  Highlanders  are  the  unmixed  descendants  of  the  Celts, 

who  were  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Europe,  and  the  first  known  colo- 
nists of  Britain.    Slowly  following  the  progress  of  refinement,  and  assim 
ilating  with  their  neighbors,  it  may  soon  be  matter  of  unavailing  regret, 
that  their  language,  their  singular  manners,  and  peculiar  customs,  will 
have  become  extinct  and  unknown,  save  in  the  traditions  of  the  people 
or  the  partial  records  of  the  historian. 

This  race,  which  for  so  many  ages  preserved  inviolate  its  Celtic  prin- 
ciples and  original  habits,  has  already  yielded  to  the  powerful  advance  of 
modern  civilisation,  and  has  apparently  lost  more  of  its  distinctive  fea- 
tures within  the  last  century,  than  during  all  the  previous  lapse  of  time, 
from  its  first  settlement  in  Britain.  Tenaciously  retaining  their  prim- 
itive language,  social  institutions,  and  established  usages,  and  inhabiting 
a  romantic  and  picturesque  country,  in  which  they  so  long  preserved 
their  independence,  the  Gael  and  their  territories  have  become  the  ob- 
jects of  much  curiosity,  and  the  prominent  place  which  they  occupy  in 
the  national  annals,  heightens  the  interest  which  Scotland  has  so  much 
excited. 

After  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  there  was,  indeed,  a  long  period 
of  indifference  towards  this  country,  and  of  consequent  ignorance  of  its 
moral  and  political  state,  but  emerging  from  this  situation  of  apparent 
insignificance,  it  was  destined  to  attract  peculiar  regard,  and  every  thing 
relating  to  it  became  an  object  of  the  liveliest  attention.  Various  caus- 
es contributed  to  effect  this  change.  The  rebellions  of  1715  and  1745 
forced  on  government  the  necessity  of  paying  more  attention  to  this  part 
of  the  kingdom,  more  particularly  to  the  Highlands,  where  the  conse- 
quences of  the  battle  of  Culloden  proved  that,  even  at  that  late  period, 
the  Gael  were  deemed  unworthy  of  regard,  as  members  of  the  empire,  no 
laws  being  thought  applicable  to  them  on  the  suppression  of  the  rebel- 
lion, but  those  which  were  given  by  a  brigade.*    It  was  soon,  however, 


Culloden  Papers. 


8 


INTRODUCTION. 


perceived,  that  from  the  mountains  of  Scotland  could  be  drawn  an  inex- 
haustible supply  of  the  best  soldiers  in  Europe,  and  government  quickly 
availed  itself  of  a  resource  so  invaluable.  Those  who  represented  the 
exiled  chiefs  from  the  period  of  the  forfeiture  of  their  estates,  until  the 
act  of  grace  restored  their  lands,  and  permitted  them  to  return  to  their 
country,  with  that  hereditary  authority,  which  could  not,  while  the  spirit 
of  clanship  animated  the  people,  be  dissolved  or  impaired,  many  of  them, 
without  any  other  income  than  what  was  supplied  by  the  benevolence  of 
the  clan,  were  able  to  raise  numerous  battalions,  with  whom  they  glori- 
ously fought  in  support  of  that  constitution  which  a  principle  of  honor, 
mistaken  loyalty,  and  the  intrigues  of  France,  had  so  lately  led  them  to 
endeavor  to  subvert. 

The  most  interesting  part  of  the  Scots'  nation  is  the  Highlanders,  the 
descendants  of  the  aboriginal  Celts,  who  signalized  themselves  by  a  de- 
termined and  effectual  resistance,  to  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  Romans, 
who  had  subdued  the  inhabitants  of  the  Southern  provinces.  The  nature 
of  their  country,  wild  and  mountainous,  protected  by  natural  bulwarks, 
within  which,  fear  and  prudence  would  equally  prevent  intrusion,  and 
which  opposing  a  barrier  to  free  communication  with  other  parts,  served 
to  preserve  them  for  so  many  ages  as  a  distinct  and  independent  people. 
Their  simple  patriarchal  manners  and  government  did  not  lead  to  much 
intercourse  with  strangers,  and,  except  cattle,  there  was  little  produce 
of  their  country,  the  disposal  of  which  would  have  brought  them  into 
contact  with  others.  Their  habits  led  to  no  wants  which  could  not  be 
supplied  within  themselves.  The  sea,  and  numerous  lakes  and  rivers, 
afforded  an  abundance  of  fish,  the  woods  and  mountains  a  variety  of 
fowl  and  venison,  and  those  who  attempted  agriculture  found  the  valleys 
highly  productive.  Thus  secluded,  their  traditions  and  songs  celebra- 
ted the  exploits  of  their  own  nation,  and  the  locality  of  description 
fostered  the  spirit  of  independence,  the  lofty  notions  of  their  own  un- 
conquered  race,  and  jealous  pride  of  ancestry,  so  remarkable  in  the 
Highlanders.  Hence  they  tenaciously  preserved  their  primitive  institu- 
tions, their  costume,  language,  poetry,  music,  &c.,  and  remained  for 
many  ages  little  known  to  the  rest  of  the  kingdom.  The  more  Southern 
Scots  were,  indeed,  aware  of  their  existence.  The  troops  and  hosts  of 
hardy  warriors  that  often  swelled  the  armies  of  the  king,  and  were  some- 
times brought  down  in  hostility  to  his  authority,  apprized  their  country- 
men that  they  were  a  considerable  people.  The  fierce  and  overwhelm- 
ing forays  that  necessity  or  revenge  impelled  them  to  make  on  the  plains, 
informed  their  Lowland  neighbors,  in  a  more  unpleasant  way,  of  their 
vicinity  to  powerful  tribes  of  different  habits,  and  living  under  peculiar 
laws.  The  civil  wars  which  they  had  at  different  times  maintained  on 
behalf  of  the  Stewarts,  kept  alive  the  recollection  of  their  existence,  but 
it  was  not  until  after  the  remarkable  events  of  1745-6,  that  the  Northern 
part  of  Britain  became  an  object  of  serious  attention  to  the  ministry,  and 
of  much  curiosity  to  all.    This  interest,  at  first  chiefly  arising  from  po- 


INTRODUCTION. 


9 


litical  causes,  and  the  situation  of  the  country,  was  not  at  that  time  well 
calculated  to  produce  a  favorable  or  unprejudiced  view.  The  High- 
landers were  even  at  this  period  deemed  little  better  than  savages.  The^ 
moderation  and  orderly  conduct  of  the  army  of  Prince  Charles  during 
its  success,  and  the  bravery  and  humanity  displayed  throughout  the 
affair,  that  might  have  vindicated  their  character  from  such  injustice, 
were  forgotten  in  the  stigma  of  audacious  rebellion.  The  consequent 
abolition  of  the  system  of  government  so  conducive  to  their  indepen- 
dence, brought  them  under  more  particular  notice  and  observation.  The 
suppression  of  heritable  jurisdictions,  the  previous  formation  of  the  mili- 
tary roads,  and  acts  for  disarming  the  people  and  discharging  the  servi- 
ces of  watching,  warding,  hosting,  and  hunting,  opened  the  Highlands 
to  the  investigation  of  the  curious,  and  broke  down  the  chief  obstacle 
to  the  mixture  of  the  inhabitants  in  other  society — the  safeguard  against 
the  intrusion  of  strangers,  and  the  great  protection  for  their  primitive 
simplicity  of  character. 

The  Gael,  who  had  before  this  time  been  so  little  known,  even  to 
many  of  the  more  Southern  Lowlanders,  leaving  their  native  hills,  dif- 
fused a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  themselves  and  their  country,  and 
by  their  abilities  displayed  in  the  various  situations  of  life,  have  shown 
themselves  equal  to  the  natives  of  any  portion  of  the  kingdom,  and 
worthy  of  the  respectable  station  which  they  have  acquired  in  society. 
With  the  loss  of  much  of  their  distinctive  character,  they  have  had  but 
too  many  opportunities  of  showing  that  their  military  ardor  and  prowess 
are  yet  unimpaired.  All  Europe  has  admired  the  achievements  of  the 
Scots' troops,  and  in  the  late  war  they  "  covered  themselves  with  glory.'* 

The  history  and  antiquities  of  so  singular  a  people  opened  a  copious 
source  of  speculation  and  literary  discussion,  and  the  subject  could  not 
fail  to  be  generally  interesting.  The  publication  of  several  works  gave 
a  stimulus  to  research,  and  excited  the  critical  acumen  of  many  writers. 
The  proud  and  high-minded  Highlanders  repelled  with  indignation  the 
slights  they  received,  and  the  attacks  that  were  so  unceremoniously 
made  upon  almost  every  thing  which  they  valued  as  national.  Unfortu- 
nately, an  acrimonious  spirit  in  which  some  writers  indulged  begat  an 
animosity  but  ill  suited  to  calm  inquiry.  Abuse  and  recrimination  took 
the  place  of  serious  investigation.  The  elucidation  of  historical  truth 
was  either  altogether  put  aside,  or  made  subservient  to  the  defeat  of  an 
opponent,  by  turning  his  cause  into  ridicule;  and  thus  both  parties  have 
sacrificed  much  of  the  weight  that  would  otherwise  have  attached  to 
their  arguments.  While  facts  were  obscured  or  perverted,  error  and 
fiction  accumulated,  and  impartial  judgment  and  unbiassed  decision  were 
thereby  prevented.  Those  works  were  more  fitted  for  the  perusal  of 
the  antiquary  than  the  amusement  of  the  general  reader;  but  a  pow- 
erful stimulus  to  the  curiosity  concerning  Scotland  has  been  given  by 
the  writings  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  her  sons, 
whose  works  have  indeed  produced  a  new  era  in  literature.  Caledonia 
2 


10 


INTRODUCTION. 


has  offered  an  ample  field  for  the  creations  of  poetry  and  romance,  and 
by  interweaving  historical  personages  and  events  with  the  details  of  fic- 
titious narrative,  the  gifted  author  has,  in  his  combinations,  preserved 
with  much  fidelity  the  truth  of  nature,  and  the  people,  thus  portrayed  by 
the  magic  pencil  of  genius,  are  presented  under  that  view  which  most 
strikingly  displays  their  national  character.  Whilst  those  and  other 
volumes  almost  equally  fascinating,  illustrate  Scotish  life  and  history, 
exhibit  the  influence  of  peculiar  institutions,  and  delineate  the  manners 
of  the  inhabitants,  they  are  the  most  amusing  compositions  of  the  age, 
and  by  the  varied  beauties  of  their  recitals,  have  charmed  civilized  soci- 
ety throughout  the  globe.  The  sublime  and  pathetic  remains  of  Ossian 
and  other  bards  display  the  ancient  Gael  in  the  most  imposing  colors, 
and  draw  forth  our  admiration  by  the  dignity  of  their  style,  and  the 
grandeur  of  their  imagery.  Ramsay,  Burns,  and  other  poets,  embellish 
rural  life,  and  raise  our  ideas  of  the  talents  and  intelligence  of  the  Scot- 
ish peasantry,  but  "  the  wizard  of  the  north  "  has  environed  his  subject 
"with  a  halo  of  romantic  glory,  brightening  the  page  of  history,  and  rous- 
ing an  enthusiastic  attention  to  all  that  relates  to  this  part  of  the  island. 
In  thus,  however,  expressing  what  all  must  feel,  it  is  necessary  to  observe 
that  novels  of  this  class  are  not  to  be  received  as  genuine  history;  they 
are  not  meant  for  the  communication  of  strict  truth,  and  the  remark  is 
only  excited  by  noticing  the  authority  which  has  been  conceded  to  this 
class  of  composition.  Highly  as  their  authors,  especially  the  writer 
above  mentioned,  are  to  be  admired,  and  deeply  versed  as  they  undoubt- 
edly are,  in  all  departments  of  Scotish  history,  they  are,  nevertheless, 
obliged  to  sacrifice  truth  for  the  sake  of  effect,  for  which,  at  the  same 
time,  they  are  not  to  be  censured.  Sir  Walter,  in  his  various  publica- 
tions, has  brought  into  view  many  of  the  ancient  customs  of  the  Scots, 
several  of  which  have  long  been  peculiar  to  the  Highlanders;  and  the 
notes  to  his  poetical  works,  and  the  recent  illustrations  of  his  prose  writ- 
ings, contain  the  history  and  description  of  many  curious  observances, 
as  well  as  authentic  details  of  interesting  transactions.  The  present 
volumes,  by  elucidating  in  the  sober  language  of  history  those  manners 
so  beautifully  blended  with  fiction  by  the  novelists,  and  those  circum- 
stances which  are  introduced  with  so  much  effect,  and  so  materially  add 
to  the  interest  with  which  their  works  are  read,  afford  some  claim  to  the 
consideration  of  the  public. 

The  numerous  volumes  extant  on  Scotish  history  and  antiquities  may 
appear  to  render  the  present  undertaking  superfluous,  but  no  publication 
on  the  same  extensive  plan  has  yet  appeared.  In  a  general  history  par- 
ticular information  cannot  be  given,  and  should  not  be  expected — topo- 
graphical works  are  partial — tours  and  essays  are  superficial — and  con- 
troversial writings,  of  which  the  Northern  part  of  the  island  has  been  a 
fertile  source,  are  still  less  popular,  and  are  often  less  satisfactory  in 
every  respect  than  the  others. 

Dr.  Mac  Pherson,  in  his  "Dissertations,"  had  a  similar  view  to  that 


INTRODUCTION. 


II 


ithich  led  to  the  production  of  this  work;  but  his  labors  are  limited,  and 
he  chiefly  compares  the  Gaelic  customs  with  those  of  the  Germans 
My  endeavor  has  been  to  illustrate,  with  impartiality,  the  manners  of 
the  Celtic  race,  to  trace  the  language,  the  religion,  form  of  government, 
and  peculiar  usages  of  the  Scots  to  their  origin;  to  show  their  identity 
with  those  of  the  aborigines  of  Britain,  and  their  resemblance  to  those 
of  the  remaining  branches  of  the  Celtic  race,  and  thence  to  prove  their 
own  descent,  and  the  derivation  of  the  singular  manners  which  so  long 
distinguished  them,  and  to  which  they  yet  fondly  cling.  That  all  these 
emanated  from  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Europe,  1  trust  will  be  satis- 
factorily shown.  It  is  justly  observed  by  Dr.  Henry,  of  the  Gauls  and  . 
Britons,  that  "whatever  is  said  of  the  persons,  manners,  and  customs 
of  the  one,  may  be  applied  to  the  other  with  little  variation  and  few 
exceptions." 

I  am  aware  that  some  of  the  subjects  on  which  I  have  ventured  to 
write  have  been  bones  of  contention  between  the  learned;  I  have  no 
wish  to  increase  the  list  of  disputants,  and  should  not  have  obtruded  my 
opinions,  opposed,  as  they  sometimes  are,  to  those  of  others,  if  I  could 
have  withheld  them  with  justice  to  my  design.  My  reasonmg  may  not 
always  be  satisfactory,  but  I  hope  it  is  not  intemperate,  and  can  aver 
that  it  is  the  result  of  long  consideration  and  careful  investigation. 
Most  of  the  Scots'  writers  have  unfortunately  used  their  pens  under 
feelings  of  heat  and  indignation,  either  as  the  prejudiced  but  zealous 
champions  of  Celtic,  Gothic,  Irish,  or  Saxon  colonization, — the  strenuous 
advocates  and  pertinacious  opponents  of  royal  and  noble  genealogies,  or 
the  redoubted  vindicators  and  assailants  of  national  independence  and 
ancient  glory;  yet,  whatever  warmth  may  be  displayed  by  individuals, 
the  researches  of  many  in  different  departments  have  brought  forward 
and  preserved  much  matter,  both  curious  and  important.  Numerous 
local  historians,  poets,  and  tourists,  have  recorded  interesting  facts,  and 
many  literary  societies  have  elucidated  national  history  by  their  own 
labors,  and  by  their  exertions  to  promote  all  kinds  of  research.  Of  these, 
and  all  other  accessible  sources  of  information,  I  have  availed  myself; 
in  doing  which,  and  in  making  personal  investigations  and  inspections  of 
existing  remains  in  both  countries,  I  have  spent  some  years  of  unwearied 
labor,  and  I  have  been  enabled  to  accomplish  this  undertaking,  if  not  in 
a  manner  so  complete  as  I  could  wish,  yet  in  a  style  which  may  evince 
my  desire  to  be  as  correct  and  satisfactory  as  possible.  * 

The  labor  attending  the  research  necessary  for  the  proper  execution 
of  a  work  of  so  comprehensive  a  nature  as  this,  can  only  be  appreciated 
by  those  who  have  been  engaged  in  a  similar  pursuit.  The  variety  of 
authorities  which  I  have  consulted  is  indicated  by  the  quotations  and 

*  Many  drawings  of  Scotish  antiquities  and  accompanying  observations  have  been 
honored  by  the  notice  of  different  Societies,  who  have,  in  several  cases,  published 
them  in  the  volumes  of  their  Transactions,  the  fidelity  of  the  sketches  having  been 
acknowledged  by  members  who  had  themselves  seen  the  objects. 


\ 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

references,  but  numerous  works  were  necessarily  perused  without  ob- 
taining any  thing  to  repay  the  trouble.  * 

The  Celtic  race  were  scarcely  less  celebrated  for  their  acquirements 
in  arts  than  for  proficiency  in  military  tactics.  The  studies  of  all  lauda- 
ble sciences,  says  Marcellinus,  flourished  highly  in  Gaul,  being  strictly 
cultivated  by  the  sacred  order  of  Eubages,  Bards,  and  Druids.  The 
former,  searching  into  nature's  highest  altitude,  endeavored  to  explain 
its  operations;  and  the  Druids,  of  a  more  refined  imagination,  were  ad- 
dicted wholly  to  questions  of  deep  and  hidden  matters.  The  Celts,  as 
will  be  seen  throughout  the  present  work,  were  by  no  means  barbarous, 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  word,  but  were  the  invetitors  of  nu- 
merous useful  and  ingenious  contrivances,  for  which  surrounding  nations 
were  indebted  to  them.  "I  am  tired,"  says  a  learned  writer  on  the 
language  of  this  people,  "of  always  hearing  the  Romans  quoted,  when 
the  commencement  of  our  civilisation  is  spoken  of ;  while  nothing  is 
said  of  our  obligations  to  the  Celts.  It  was  not  the  Latins,  it  was  the 
Gauls  who  were  our  first  instructors."*  Some  of  the  ancients  had  the 
candor  to  make  the  same  confession.  Aristotle  declared  that  philosophy 
was  derived  by  the  Greeks  from  the  Gauls,  and  not  imparted  to  them. 

So  far  is  it  from  true  that  the  Celtae  were  "  totally  unable  to  raise 
themselves  in  the  scale  of  society,"  as  the  author  of  the  "Enquiry" 
boldly  asserts,  that  numerous  individuals  obtained  high  and  well  deserved 
honors  in  the  Roman  empire.  The  race  was,  in  fact,  remarkable  for 
superiority  of  mental  endowments,  which  is  proved  by  the  list  of  cele- 
brated individuals  of  Celtic  origin.  Spain  alone  produced  Seneca,  Lu- 
can,  Collumella,  Martial,  Quintillian,  &c.  whilst  the  Egyptians  and  other 
people,  subjected  by  the  Romans,  furnished  none  of  any  note.  The 
Gauls  were  truly  "of  sharp  wit  and  apt  to  learn,"  and  they  were  even 
excelled  by  the  Britons,!  the  knowledge  of  whose  priesthood  was  so 
profound,  that  the  youth  of  the  continent  came  hither  to  study  and  com- 
plete their  education,  by  a  course  of  no  less  than  twenty  years'  proba- 
tion. This  learning  was  not  confined  to  the  Southern  tribes,  but  equally 
pervaded  those  of  the  North,  Coil,  surnamed  Sylvius  Bonus,  maintain- 
ed a  poetical  correspondence  with  Ausonius.  Celestius,  Pelagius,  St. 
Patrick,  and  others,  who  flourished  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  were 
Scotsmen,  not  to  mention  those  who  are  believed  to  have  lived  about  the 
period  of  the  Roman  invasion,  and  even  before  that  event,  if  we  can 
credit  Bale,  Leland,  Dempster,  &c. 

In  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  the  Scots  were  renowned  on  the  conti- 
nent, their  learning  and  probity  recommending  them  to  situations  of  trust 
and  honor.  Hericus,  in  his  Life  of  St.  Caesar,  dedicated  to  this  prince, 
says,  the  whole  Scotish  nation,  almost  "despising  the  dangers  of  the 
sea,  resort  to  our  country  with  a  numerous  train  of  philosophers."  The 
professors  of  Paris  and  Padua  were  then  Scotsmen,  and  Charles's  pre- 


Julius  Liechtlen. 


t  Tacitus'  Life  of  Agricola,  c.  xxi. 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


ceptor,  Alcuin,  is  also  believed  to  have  been  one.  Paulus  iEmilius, 
speaking  of  Charlemagne,  says  he  bestowed  the  honors  and  magistra- 
cies of  the  nation  especially  upon  the  Scots,  whom  he  greatly  esteemed 
for  their  fidelity  and  valor;  and  Eginhart  writes,  that  the  kings  of  Scot- 
land were  much  devoted  to  him,  which  their  letters  to  him,  then  extant, 
confirmed.*  Whether  he  sent  to  King  Achadh,  or  Achaius,  requesting 
the  assistance  of  learned  men,  as  some  affirm,  it  may  be  immaterial  to 
mquire,  but  that  a  friendship  subsisted  between  the  two  nations  is  cer- 
tain; and  Charles  himself,  in  a  mandate  concerning  the  Scots'  church 
of  Honaugia,  speaks  of  them  as  having  obtained  the  particular  favor 
and  protection  of  the  kings  of  France  before  his  reign.  The  Scots 
were  indeed  most  zealous  and  indefatigable  missionaries,  and  taught  the 
Christian  religion  to  several  nations,  founding  many  churches  and  reli- 
gious houses  in  Germany,  France,  and  Italy  itself,  distinguishing  them- 
selves by  their  piety,  and  a  strict  adherence  to  the  primitive  rites  from 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  had  departed. 

Lest  I  should  be  classed  with  those  vain  and  prejudiced  Scotsmen, 
who  are  represented  as  maintaining  what  is  called  the  national  honor, 
against  all  reason  and  historical  facts,  fable  and  conjecture  being  thought 
the  only  support  for  their  assertions,  it  may  be  well  to  adduce  some 
proofs,  in  order  to  show  that  Scotland  must  have  possessed  very  ancient 
documents,  and  men  well  qualified,  as  well  as  solicitous,  to  frame  and 
preserve  such  records.  The  violent  heat — nay,  rage,  with  which  many 
Scots'  antiquaries  have  vindicated  the  former  glories  of  their  country, 
has  often  subjected  them  to  reproach  and  ridicule,  and  has  unfortunately 
detracted  from  the  merit  of  their  works. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  the  Druids  committed  nothing  to  writing, 
and  that,  in  fact,  their  profession  forbade  the  use  of  letters;  but  while 
this  is  true,  as  far  as  respects  their  mythology  and  religious  rites,  there 
:is  every  reason  to  believe  that  they  composed  books  or  tracts  on  other 
subjects.  The  bards,  who  were  the  professors  and  conservators  of  his- 
tory, appear  to  have  been  under  no  restraint  in  committing  their  partic- 
ular knowledge  to  writing  ;  and  it  is  reported  that  collections  of  the 
Brehon  laws  of  high  antiquity,  and  in  their  peculiar  law  language,  still 
exist.  At  li,  or  Zona,  the  chief  seat  of  the  Druidical  order  in  Scotland, 
Columba  is  said  to  have  burned  a  heap  of  their  books;  and  in  Ireland, 
St.  Patrick  was  no  less  severe,  committing,  according  to  the  Leccan 
records,  no  less  than  180  tracts  to  the  flames.  The  assertion  so  often 
repeated  in  the  Ossianic  controversy,  that  no  Gaelic  MSS.  were  in  ex- 
istence, was  generally  believed  until  the  investigations  of  the  Highland 
Society  proved  its  falsity.  If  the  reader  consult  the  last  Chapter  of  this 
work,  he  will  be  satisfied  that  the  Scots  had  the  use  of  letters  in  the 
most  early  ages;  but  as  it  seems  here  necessary,  to  show  what  reliance 
may  be  placed  on  the  statements  which  are  subsequently  introduced,  and 

*  Vita  et  Gestae  Karoli  Magni,  p.  138,  ed.  Francofurti. 


14 


INTRODUCTION. 


to  vindicate  the  authenticity  of  several  of  the  authorities  which  it  has 
been  necessary  to  quote,  some  account  of  the  early  state  of  literature  in 
the  British  Isles  shall  be  given. 

The  bards  occasionally  wrote  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  but  we 
are  told  they  did  not  make  it  a  practice  to  commit  their  poems  to  literary 
record  before  the  fifth  century,  and  the  distractions  which  so  long  af- 
flicted the  country  occasioned  the  loss,  either  by  destruction  or  removal, 
of  most  of  their  productions;  and  hence  Gildas,  who  wrote  in  the  middle 
of  the  sixth  century,  for  want  of  those  "records  left  by  his  own  country- 
men, which  were  either  destroyed  by  the  enemy  at  home,  or  carried  by 
exiles  into  other  parts,"  was  obliged  to  apply  for  the  most  p^rt  to  foreign 
writers.  Nennius,  who  flourished  in  858,  tells  us  he  compiled  his  his- 
tory *'from  the  Roman  annals,  the  chronicles  of  the  holy  fathers,  and 
the  writings  of  the  Scots  and  English;  also  from  the  traditions  of  the 
elders,  which,  by  many  learned  men  and  librarians,  had  been  reduced  to 
writing,  but  either  from  frequent  deaths,  or  the  devastations  of  war,  were 
then  left  in  a  decayed  and  confused  condition." 

The  remains  of  British  history  were  collected  by  Walter  Calenius, 
Archdeacon  of  Oxford,  and  were  finally  translated,  interpolated,  and 
published  by  GeofTry  of  Monmouth.  The  author  of  the  Life  of  Ninian, 
Bishop  of  Galloway,  says  he  made  use  of  a  book,  "  De  vita  et  miraculis  ^ 
ejus,  barbaria  Scriptus;"  and  the  Chronicon  Rhythmicum,  a  Scotish 
record,  was  copied  from  "  Chronica  Scripta."  The  ancient  tract  enti- 
tled "De  situ  Albaniae,"  quotes  British  histories  and  chronicles,  and  acts 
and  annals  of  the  Scots  and  Picts.  The  original  register  of  St.  Andrews 
also  quoted  Pictish  books;  yet  Pinkerton  maintains  that  those  people  did 
not  know  the  use  of  letters,  his  proof  being  that  all  their  churchmen  and 
men  of  learning  were  either  Welsh  or  Scots.  It  is  sufficient  evidence 
that  the  Picts  were  not  thus  illiterate,  could  nothing  else  be  advanced, 
than  that  Nechtan,  one  of  their  kings,  wrote  to  Ceolfrid,  Abbot  of  Wear- 
mouth,  in  715,  and  translated  his  long  letter  into  the  Pictish  language; 
and  he  was  accustomed,  we  are  told,  to  peruse  and  meditate  on  jthe 
Scriptures.  A  fragment  of  Strathclyde  Gaelic,  which  Lhuyd  found,  and 
pronounced  of  the  sixth  century,  shows  that  the  people  of  that  district 
were  equally  educated  with  their  neighbors.  Adomnan's  Life  of  Colum- 
ba  was  first  written  in  Gaelic,  as  were  most  of  the  books  known  to  have 
been  preserved  at  lona,  several  of  which,  in  1525,  were  removed  to 
Aberdeen,  but  others  were  seen  torn  up  for  snufT  paper  at  Inverary. 

The  existence  of  the  historian  Veremundus,  who  has  been  placed  in 
the  list  of  fabulous  authorities,  by  most  writers,  is  ably  vindicated  in  a 
work  by  Mr.  Tytler,  That  he  and  others  composed  tracts  on  the  national 
history  is  certain,  if  quotations  from  their  writings,  and  allusions  to  them 
by  early  chroniclers  is  a  valid  proof.  To  find  historians,  therefore,  who 
wrote  1200  or  1400  years  ago  referring  to  old  records  in  the  same  terms 
now  applied  to  their  own  works,  surely  proves  the  antiquity  of  writing. 
To  what  extent  the  ancient  documents  thus  referred  to  may  have  been, 


INTRODUCTION. 


1$ 


cannot  now  be  ascertained.  John  Fordun,  in  the  middle  of  the  14th 
century,  mentions  old  chronicles  and  historical  annals  which  he  had 
consulted.  It  is,  indeed,  apparent  that  he  transcribed  from  authentic 
materials,  and  the  only  desideratum  is  to  know  their  extent  and  antiquity. 

The  general  belief  has  always  been  that  our  ancient  records  were  de- 
stroyed by  Edward  I.  of  England,  but  some  late  writers  have  opposed 
this  opinion,  denying  the  existence  of  such  documents,  and  alleging 
that  all  those  he  carried  away  were  returned  after  they  had  been  ex- 
amined for  the  purpose  of  supporting  that  king's  pretended  claim  to  the 
supremacy  of  Scotland.  Chalmers  says,  "he  did  not  destroy  those 
documents,  but  is  answerable  for  all  the  derangement  and  loss  they  sus- 
tained;" but  his  intentions  respecting  the  Scotish  crown,  and  conduct 
towards  the  country,  justify  a  strong  suspicion  that  no  record  inimical  to 
his  object  was  by  any  means  likely  to  be  preserved  or  restored.  Sir 
George  Mac  Kenzie  has  observed  that  Edward  assuredly  did  not  return 
all  the  documents  he  had  carried  off,  giving  an  instance  in  the  release 
granted  by  Richard  I.  to  William,  which  Rymer  has  published. 

The  destruction  of  national  archives  by  the  ravages  of  war  and  civil 
dissensions  has  been  lamentable.  The  Reformation  was  peculiarly  fatal  to 
those  preserved  in  religious  houses.  Duplicates  of  the  renunciation  by  Ed- 
ward III.  of  all  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  Scotland,  were  deposited  in 
each  of  the  cathedrals,  and  of  those  only  the  one  kept  atGlasgow  was  saved. 

The  picturesque  and  singular  dress  of  the  Highlanders  has  been  an 
object  of  particular  remark.  To  those  who  seem  to  have  assailed  the 
antiquity  of  every  thing  peculiar  to  this  people,  more  from  sentiments  of 
individual  aversion  than  from  a  spirit  of  candor  or  love  of  truth,  it  has 
offered  a  prominent  mark  for  the  display  of  anti-Celtic  feeling.  The 
garb  is,  in  the  following  pages,  described  and  illustrated  in  all  its  varie- 
ties, as  now  and  fornierly  worn;  and  while  the  arguments  of  those  who 
assert  its  recent  adoption  are  overthrown,  the  constant  use  of  the  Brea- 
can-feile  and  Feile-beag  will  be  proved  from  documents  of  unquestionable 
authenticity.  It  will  be  shown  that  the  ambiguous  terms  in  which  this 
unique  and  graceful  costume  has  been  spoken  of,  cannot  be  applied  to 
any  other  habit,  and  that  the  writers  were  at  a  loss  to  describe  a  dress 
so  different  from  all  others,  and  so  difficult  to  be  comprehended  by  those 
who  only  saw  it  at  a  distance,  and  were  ignorant  of  its  arrangement. 
This  will  appear  the  less  strange  when  so  few  in  the  present  day,  after 
it  has  become  in  some  degree  familiar  even  to  the  inhabitants  of  "  Cock- 
aigne," understand  its  proper  composition;  and  this  not  excepting  many 
of  the  natives  of  Scotland  itself  While,  however,  some  authors  have 
written  in  ignorance,  many  have  done  so  from  a  feeling  of  prejudice  and 
silly  jealousy  of  the  Scotish  mountaineers;  but  it  will  be  proved  that  this 
primitive  costume,  so  well  suited  to  the  warrior,  so  well  adapted  for  the 
avocations  of  the  hunter  and  shepherd,  has  not  only  been  the  invariable 
dress  of  the  Highlanders  from  time  immemorial,  but  is  to  be  derived  from 
the  most  remote  antiquity;  and  that  neither  their  clothing,  arms,  language, 


16 


INTRODUCTION. 


poetry,  nor  music,  has  been  adopted  from  any  nation  whatever,  but 
received  from  the  primaeval  people  whence  they  sprang.  Their  country 
and  pursuits  rendering  the  belted  plaid  and  kilt  the  most  convenient  ap- 
parel, they  were  not  likely  to  lay  it  aside  for  any  other.  It  is  still  less 
probable,  that  had  the  Trius  been  worn  before  the  adoption  of  the  Feile- 
beag,  the  inhabitants  of  a  cold  climate  would  have  denuded  themselves 
of  so  essential  a  part  of  the  dress  of  all  other  nations.  Nor  would  a 
people  so  strongly  attached  to  their  primitive  customs,  and  opposed  tc 
change,  have  become  so  partial  to  a  dress  introduced  by  strangers.  All 
who  ever  settled  in  the  Highlands,  as  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  conformed 
to  the  manners  of  their  adopted  country. 

I  trust  that  I  shall  be  found  to  have  fulfilled  all  that  was  promised  in 
the  Prospectus.  If  any  part  has  been  treated  superficially,  it  is  the 
"genealogical  dissertations,"  a  subject  to  which  incidental  allusions 
only  could  be  made  in  such  a  work.  The  materials  I  have,  however, 
collected,  are  abundant  and  interesting,  and  will  enable  me,  should  such 
an  undertaking  meet  with  encouragement,  to  elucidate  Clan  History  in 
a  novel  and  interesting  manner.  The  ignorance  of  heralds  and  genealo- 
gists has  wofully  mystified  family  antiquities;  but  my  plan  is  not  to  de 
rive  families  from  the  individual  whose  name  is  first  found  in  a  charter, 
or  other  document,  as  the  laborious  author  of  "Caledonia"  has  done, 
imagining  he  had  settled  their  origin  by  this  proof,  as  if  persons  of  cer- 
tain names,  or  even  tribes,  did  not  exist  before  the  formation  of  certain 
parchment  documents  !  I  would,  for  instance,  submit  whether  the 
Grants,  a  clan  of  equal  antiquity  with  the  Mac  Alpms,  who  are  tradition- 
ally considered  to  be  coeval  with  their  native  hills,  did  not  more  proba- 
bly take  their  name  from  the  well-known  district  in  Strathspey,  called 
Griantachd,  the  country  of  Grannus,  or  the  sun,  than  from  a  certain 
person  called  Le  Grand.  The  clan  Chattan  do  indeed  say  that  they  are 
sprung  from,  or  were  connected  with,  the  Cattans  of  the  continent;  but 
the  Gordons,  the  Frasers,  the  Menzies,  and  the  Ruthvens,  have  no 
tradition  of  their  descent  from  the  Gorduni,  the  Frisii,  the  Menapii,  or 
the  Rutheni,  of  Gaul,  although  the  similarity  of  names  seems  of  itself  to 
infer  a  common  origin. 

I  have  endeavored  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  the  antiquarian  and  de- 
scriptive parts  with  anecdotes,  many  of  them  original,  illustrative  of  the 
different  subjects,  and  I  hope  my  selections  may  be  thought  judicious. 
I  have,  however,  forborne  to  infuse  humor  into  my  recitals,  notwith- 
standing it  might  have  enlivened  the  drier  parts  of  the  narration. 

The  variety  of  matters  which  are  discussed  at  length,  or  briefly  allud- 
ed to  in  these  volumes,  will  be  seen  from  the  Index,  in  preparing  which 
I  have  bestowed  much  care,  confident  that  to  no  work  could  it  be  more 
necessary.  He  who,  for  want  of  this  useful  appendage,  has  been  com- 
pelled to  go  over  a  book  in  search  of  something,  which  perhaps  after  his 
trouble  he  may  not  find,  will  be  able  to  appreciate  this  part  of  the  work. 
The  reader  will  find  the  Index  a  faithful  assistant  to  almost  every  subject. 


INTRODUCTION. 


17 


The  gracious  permission  to  dedicate  this  work  to  his  present  Most 
Excellent  Majesty,  is  a  renewal  of  the  distinguished  honor  intended  mo 
by  his  lamented  predecessor. 

The  Highland  Society  of  London,  ever  ready  to  promote  objects  of 
national  importance,  promptly  declared  their  resolution  to  encourage  my 
design. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  on  some  subjects,  the  few  farther 
observations  which  follow  may  not  be  inappropriate. 

In  page  97  are  some  remarks  on  the  population  of  the  Highlands  and 
Isles.  The  whole  population  of  Scotland  will  be  ascertained  by  the 
census  of  May,  1831.  It  having  appeared  to  me  desirable  to  obtain  an 
accurate  statement  of  the  numbers  of  the  Highlanders,  dividing  them 
into  clans  or  districts,  I  had  the  honor  of  corresponding  with  Sir  John 
Sinclair  and  others,  who  entered  into  my  views  on  the  subject.  Con- 
vinced that  a  census  taken  in  this  manner  would  be  of  national  utility, 
in  putting  government  in  possession  of  the  real  strength  of  each  clan, 
and  thus  enabling  it  to  determine  what  regiments  could,  in  case  of 
emergency,  be  raised  in  certain  parts,  and  recruited  from  the  same  dis- 
trict, I  took  the  liberty  of  communicating  my  sentiments  to  Mr.  Rick- 
man,  who  was  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  Population  Acts  of 
1801,  1811,  and  1831.  My  object  was  not  deemed  capable  of  being 
accomplished;  but  the  following  letter  from  a  gentleman  long  in  the  army, 
and  on  the  recruiting  service,  will,  perhaps,  show  that  its  adoption 
might  have  been  attended  with  advantage. 

"Dear  Sir,  "3m  A^^nst,  1830. 

"With  respect  to  taking  the  census  by  clans  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  1 
think  it  would  be  of  importance  in  many  points  of  view,  but  particularly  with 
respect  to  military  levies  and  national  defence.  When  a  regiment  is  raised  from 
one  clan,  the  men  consider  themselves  as  much  at  home,  wherever  they  serve, 
as  though  they  had  not  left  their  native  valley.  The  youth  enlist  into  such  regi- 
ment with  alacrity,  and  the  more  it  distinguishes  itself,  and  the  harder  its  services, 
the  more  eager  will  they  be  to  gain  a  name  among  their  kindred.  Had  the  71st, 
72nd,  73rcl,  74th,  and  75th  regiments  been  the  clan  regiments  of  the  Mac  Don- 
alds, the  Mac  Intoshes,  the  Grants,  the  Mac  Phersons,  &c.  the  government  had 
never  found  it  necessary  to  change  their  dress,  and  wrap  their  thighs  in  a  blan- 
ket, as  the  few  Highlanders  we  had  then  in  the  75th  emphatically  called 
breeches  of  white  coarse  cloth.  I  conceive,  that  although  heritable  jurisdictions 
have  very  properly  been  abolished,  it  would  be  advantageous  to  government  to 
keep  up  among  the  Gael  as  much  of  the  spirit  of  clanship  as  possible.  If  they 
have  sacrificed  so  much  to  mistaken  loyalty,  what  may  not  be  expected  from 
their  devotedness  to  a  better  cause,  if  in  the  course  of  events  it  should  require 
their  support.  In  short,  if  the  clan  system  had  been  more  fully  adopted  during 
last  war,  1  have  no  doubt  there  would  have  been  at  Waterloo,  for  every  High- 
lander who  fought  there,  at  least  two.  and  his  Grace  of  Wellington  can  best  tell 
what  woidd  have  been  their  value  on  such  an  occasion.  The  plan  alluded  to 
would  put  tlie  government  in  possession  of  the  number  of  each  clan,  and  in  the 
case  of  raising  local  forces,  or  troops  for  general  service,  they  would  fix  upon 
those  clans  whose  numbers  would  enable  them  to  complete  their  levies  in  the 
shortest  time.  Upon  this  point  it  would  create  a  useful  feeling  among  tho 
chiefs,  of  retaining  the  tenantry  upon  their  estates,  for  he  that  has  nothing  but 
sheep  on  his  grounds  could  never  expect  a  colonelcy. 
3 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


I  have  been  a  great  part  of  my  life  a  diligent  observer  of  the  character  and 
manners  of  the  Iliglilanders,  and  I  have  uniformly  found,  that  preserving  them 
in  a  body  is  the  only  means  of  preserving  their  character  from  degenerating. 
The  reason  of  this  is  clear;  if  a  man  commit  an  unworthy  action  while  serving 
abroad,  his  friends  at  home  are  sure  to  be  informed  of  it,  and  he  looks  upon 
himself  as  a  banished  man,  who  must  never  revisit  his  native  land. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  sincerely, 

To  Mr.  James  Logan.  Donald  Mac  Pherson." 

In  support  of  the  opinions  here  stated,  it  may  be  observed,  that  at 
Waterloo,  of  454  Scotsmen  in  the  42nd  regiment,  their  were  only  17 
men  of  the  name  of  Campbell,  and  not  one  Gordon.  The  former  join 
their  friends  in  the  79th  and  91st.  The  latter  serve  in  their  own  clan 
corps,  where  also  the  Mac  Phersons  chiefly  enrol  themselves.  In  like 
manner  the  Macrces,  Munroes,  Rosses,  &c.  join  the  Mac  Kenzies  in 
the  78th,  and  the  Mac  Kays  go  into  the  Sutherland  regiment;  this,  how- 
ever, is  no  proof  of  the  indifference  of  individuals  to  the  feelings  of  clan- 
ship; they  only,  when  entering  the  army,  select  the  regiment  where  they 
can  associate  with  those  who  are  from  the  same  parts  of  the  country. 
The  inference  is,  that  were  Highlanders  able  to  serve  in  a  battalion  of 
their  own  clan,  they  would  enter  the  service  with  more  alacrity. 

In  stating  that  the  sword  which  belonged  to  Gordon,  of  Bucky,  is 
believed  to  be  the  oldest  specimen  of  the  basket  hilt,  I  had  not  seen  a 
weapon  which  has  been  an  heir  loom  in  the  family  of  Sir  Charles  Forbes, 
of  New,  and  Edinglassie,  in  Aberdeenshire.  This  curious  sword  is  very 
broad,  but  not  of  great  length,  and  bears  an  inscription,  "  The  Cuttie  of 
New.  Alexr  Forbes,  1513."  If  the  cliabh,  or  basket,  is  an  original 
part,  it  appears  to  be  the  most  early  specimen. 


The  names  of  the  letters  given  in  the  Gaelic  Alphabet,  are  chiefly 
from  the  Dictionary  published  under  the  sanction  of  the  Highland  Socie- 
ty, and  I  have  stated  that  the  Irish  idiom  has  been  adopted.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  the  learned  gentlemen  employed  in  this  great  work  did 
not  give  the  native  appellations  of  the  letters,  several  of  which  differ 
from  those  in  the  sister  dialect.  The  compilers  had  not  the  same  object 
in  view  which  I  have  in  speaking  of  the  Tree  system  in  the  above  place, 
but  some  more  attention  to  the  letters,  the  materials  of  which  their 
whole  work  is  composed,  might  have  been  more  satisfactory.  The  sub- 
ject of  Letters  and  Language,  discussed  in  the  Introduction  and  last 
chapter,  deserves  a  more  extended  dissertation  than  the  present  design 
could  admit  of.  "  There  is  room,"  says  Gibbon,  "for  a  very  interest- 
ing work, — to  lay  open  the  connexion  between  the  language  and  man- 
ners of  nations  " 


CHAPTER  I. 


OF  THE  CELTIC  RACE,  COMPOSING  THE  VARIOUS  JSiATIONS 
THAT  FORMERLY  INHABITED  EUROPE. 

Europe,  in  the  most  early  ages,  was  inhabited  by  one  race  of  men, 
whose  antiquity  is  enveloped  in  inscrutable  darkness.  From  the  first 
memorial  of  their  existence,  they  are  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
Celt^,  but  the  origin  of  this  remarkable  peojile  was  utterly  unknown 
to  themselves.  They  had  no  idea  of  having  ever  occupied  any  other 
country  than  that  in  which  they  found  themselves;  and  the  Druids,  the 
depositaries  of  their  traditional  knowledge,  maintained  that  they  were 
aborigines.*  This  belief  was  not  singular,  nor  more  extraordinary  than 
that  of  many  other  nations,  equally  ignorant  and  credulous,  but  more 
polished  and  refined.  The  Celtae,  on  the  authority  of  their  priests,  de 
Glared  themselves  descended  from  the  god  Dis,  a  being  identified  with 
the  Pluto  of  Greek  and  Roman  mythology,!  but  more  probably  meant 
for  the  Earth. 

This  derivation  cannot  be  admitted:  the  inhabitants  of  the  west  must 
have  proceeded  from  Asia,  the  parent  country  of  all  mankind,  at  a 
period  which  neither  historical  research  nor  popular  tradition  has  been 
able  to  approach.  All  history,  both  sacred  and  profane,  proves  this 
quarter  of  the  globe  to  have  been  the  original  seat  of  mankind. 

*  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  on  the  authority  of  Timogenes. 

+  Caesar,  de  Bello  Gallico,  lib.  vi.  c.  17.  The  Germans  derived  their  origin  fi-om 
Tuisto,  apparently  the  same  being  as  the  Celtic  Dis  or  Tis.  Tacitus,  de  Mor. 
Germanorum. 


2C 


THE  CELTS 


In  migrating  from  the  east,  the  human  race  successively  occupied  Greece 
and  Italy,  and  extended  themselves  from  the  Euxine  to  the  Atlantic.  As 
l-eir  numbers  increased,  they  gradually  took  possession  of  the  whole 
country  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Baltic,  and  a  scanty  population 
sought  the  means  of  subsistence,  among  the  less  inviting  wastes,  from 
thence  to  the  Frozen  Sea.  Europe  and  Celtica  were  indeed  synony- 
mous:* the  sole  inhabitants,  from  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  to  Archangel, 
and  from  the  banks  of  the  Euxine  to  the  German  Ocean,  being  Celts, 
however  distinguished  by  particular  names,  applied  at  various  times  to 
different  tribes  and  independent  communities.  The  appellation  Celtse, 
which  this  primitive  people  acknowledged  as  their  only  proper  name,t 
and  which  at  first  they  received  from  others,  in  subsequent  times  under- 
went several  changes.  The  ancient  Greeks  used  this  term  in  speaking 
of  them,  but  it  afterwards  became  transformed  into  Calatse  and  Galat8e,J 
and  the  Roman  Galli  was  itself  latterly  adopted  by  some  Greek  writers.^ 

Numerous  etymologies  have  been  offered  for  the  solution  of  this  word. 
In  all  its  variations  it  may,  with  probability,  be  traced  through  the  Greek 
KelzoL  to  some  corresponding  term  in  the  Celtic  language  that  no  longer 
exists.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  enumerate  all  the  conjectures 
which  have  been  given,  and  the  result  would  be  unsatisfactory.  From 
various  circumstances  one  people  may  become  distinguished  from  another; 
but  if  inquirers  were  to  reflect,  that  original  names  cannot  arise  from 
national  manners,  and  that  it  is  more  natural  for  nations  to  become  de- 
nominated from  the  country  they  inhabit,  than  that  it  should  receive  a 
name  from  its  possessors,  it  would  serve  to  check  many  romantic  and 
fanciful  conceits.  An  appellation  so  very  ancient,  and  so  extensively 
bestowed,  must  have  arisen  from  something  independent  of  country,  and 
appropriate  to  a  numerous  race. 

To  derive  the  term  Celta?  from  "  Hills,"  or  Woods,"  or  "  Waters," 
or  from  western  or  northern  position,  when  the  people  so  designated  oc- 
cupied all  parts  of  an  extensive  continent,  and  filled  its  islands,  is  mani- 
festly absurd.  How  much  more  likely  it  is  to  have  arisen  from  peculiar 
personal  appearance,  the  first  and  natural  origin  of  names.  It  has  been 
supposed  that  the  Greeks  applied  the  term  to  denote  the  milky  ivhiteness 
of  the  skin;  but  in  this  point  the  diff*erence  between  the  two  people 
seems  insufficient  to  give  rise  to  a  designation,  which  the  Celts  retained 
as  their  own  proper  name.  A  striking  and  a  permanent  dissimilarity  has 
always  existed  between  the  European  and  the  Ethiopian,  both  in  com- 
plexion and  personal  conformation.  Amid  conjectures  so  various,  may 
we  not  suppose,  that  in  the  infancy  of  mankind,  if  I  can  so  speak,  per- 


*  Ortellius,  "  Geographia  vetus."  t  CEEsar,  ut  sup. 

t  Pausanias,  who  wrote  about  165,  says  they  were  but  lately  denominated  Gauls,  for 
ihey  had  always  called  themselves  Celtae.  Descriptio  Grsecife,  lib.  i.  c.  3.  The  term 
Gauls  seems  to  have  been  at  first  applied  to  those  who  had  obtained  a  settlement  in 
Asia,  and  were  long  known  as  Galatians. 

§  Appian  first  uses  it  in  the  beginning  of  the  second  century. 


THE  CELTS. 


21 


haps  before  they  had  visited  Europe,  a  name  arose  expressive  of  the 
fair  complexion  of  the  white  man,  compared  with  the  sable  negro.* 
From  the  primitive  language  of  those  who  first  peopled  the  country,  the 
Greek  Galactoi  has  been  undoubtedly  derived,  and  was  afterwards  given 
as  the  origin  of  the  term,  when  the  most  ancient  Celtic  had  become 
unknown. 

The  practice  of  distinguishing  individuals  by  personal  appearance  and 
qualifications,  is  still  retained  by  the  Scots  Highlanders,  the  Irish,  and 
the  Welsh;  and,  in  support  of  the  etymology  I  have  above  given,  it  is 
worthy  of  observation,  that  "  Gaelic  "  has  been,  by  good  antiquaries, 
translated  the  language  of  white  men.  Gealta  signifies  whitened,  ana 
comes  from  Geal,  white.|  The  similarity  of  this  word  to  the  term  Celtce 
is  striking;  from  it,  in  all  probability,  came  the  Roman  Gallus. 

As  the  Celtae  moved  westward,  either  from  choice  or  the  pressure  of 
an  increasing  population  in  the  east,  they  carried  with  them  a  simple 
language  and  mode  of  life;  and  as  they  met  with  no  inhabitants  in  the 
land  they  took  possession  of,  their  primitive  manners  could  at  first  suffer 
no  farther  change  than  what  the  difference  of  country  and  climate  would 
naturally  produce.  It  may  be  inferred,  with  probability,  that  they  con- 
tinued for  a  considerable  time  less  warlike  than  nations  who  obtain  a 
settlement  by  force  of  arms,  and  must  of  necessity  protect  their  acqui- 
sition by  similar  means.  The  disconnexion  of  their  tribes,  a  striking 
characteristic  of  the  race,  had  an  apparent  tendency  to  enfeeble  the 
Celts,  and  seems  to  have  prevented  the  formation  of  any  great  empire, 
as  among  other  nations;  but  the  peace  in  which  they  lived  was  favorable 
to  population.  Their  mode  of  life,  while  it  cherished  a  love  of  freedom, 
was  highly  conducive  to  bodily  strength  and  hardihood;  and  the  princi- 
ple of  division,  which  separated  the  people  into  so  many  distinct  and 
independent  tribes,  did  not  prevent  them  from  uniting  in  enterprises,  by 
which  their  power  wjas  often  felt  in  various  parts  of  the  world.  They  in- 
vaded Asia,  they  overspread  Thrace,  and  enriched  themselves  with  the 
plunder  of  the  temples  of  Greece.  In  the  reign  of  Tarquin  the  elder, 
nearly  six  centuries  before  the  incarnation, J  a  numerous  body  of  Celtae, 
both  horse  and  foot,  accompanied  by  multitudes  of  women  and  children, 
left  their  native  seats  in  search  of  new  settlements.  One  part  of  this 
army  followed  Belovesus,  and  surmounting  the  Alps,  which,  till  then,  it 
was  believed,  had  never  been  crossed,  established  themselves  near  the 


*  So  the  native  Americans  call  themselves  the  red  men,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
whites. 

t  Gaelic  Dictionaries.  The  Pictish  Chronicle  says,  the  Albani,  who  had  their  name 
from  their  v)/nte  hair,  were  the  people  from  whom  both  Scots  and  Picts  were  derived. 
Those  who  deduced  Celtae  from  flaxen  or  reddish  colored  hair,  gave  a  plausible  el}'- 
mon  :  C  was  often  used  for  G,  and  seems  to  have  been  the  most  ancient  letter 
Hence  we  find  the  Galatians  were  also  called  Calatians ;  G  allicia  was  anciently  Calla 
cia,  &c. 

t  About  570  Bossuet,  Histoire  Universelle,  vol.  i.  p.  33.  Ed.  1706. 


THE  CELTS. 


river  Po;  while  the  other  division,  conducted  by  his  brother,  Sigovesus. 
passed  into  Germany,  where  these  emigrants  settled,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Hyrcinian,  now  the  Black  Forest.*  The  nume^^us  armies  which 
the  Celtce  at  times  sent  abroad,  filled  with  alarm  the  most  warlike  and 
civilized  nations  of  Europe.  Their  irresistible  inroads,  and  the  terror 
of  their  name,  procured  peaceful  settlements,  and  even  the  payment 
of  heavy  annual  tribute  from  powerful  states.  An  army  of  Gauls,  under 
the  command  of  Brennus,  went  into  Italy  against  the  Hetrusci,  390 
years  before  the  advent  of  Christ.  The  Romans  thought  proper  to  in- 
terfere in  the  quarrel,  and  killed  one  of  the  Gallic  princes;  upon  which 
their  army,  marching  to  Rome,  defeated  the  troops  who  opposed  them, 
laid  the  city  in  ashes,  and  finally  received  one  thousand  pounds  weight 
of  gold  to  purchase  their  retreat,  and  save  the  capital  from  inevitable 
destruction.  Camillus  was  fortunately  able  to  repulse  them,  as  they 
lingered  in  the  country,  unapprehensive  of  attack;  but  they  were  not 
deterred  by  defeat  from  renewing  their  overwhelming  and  destructive 
invasions.! 

About  270,  A.  C,  in  three  great  divisions,  they  made  inroads  on 
Pannonia,  Thrace,  Macedonia,  and  Illyria.  Those  who  entered  Mace- 
donia routed  the  army  by  which  they  were  opposed,  and  slew  Ptolemy 
the  king.  Passing  into  Asia,  they  filled  the  inhabitants  with  terror  and 
dismay,  and  received  from  the  suffering  Bythinians  a  free  settlement  in 
the  country,  where  they  were  afterwards  known  as  the  Galatians,  or 
Gallo-Greeks.  The  other  divisions  were  less  fortunate;  but  they  retreat- 
ed only  to  invade  Greece  with  redoubled  fury,  and  a  more  numerous 
armament. J 

The  Celtae,  notwithstanding  the  frequent  demonstrations  of  their  war- 
like powers,  were,  for  a  long  period,  but  little  known  to  the  more  polish- 
ed nations  of  Europe,  who  were  able  to  transmit  authentic  information 
concerning  so  singular  a  people.  Their  history  and  their  religion  were 
preserved  among  themselves;  but  their  rigid  adherence  to  traditional 
poetry,  as  the  sole  vehicle  of  record,  has  left  posterity  in  much  igno- 
rance concerning  the  state  of  the  Celtic  nations  in  early  ages.  Their 
ferocious  invasions  too,  however  they  might  excite  curiosity,  were  not 
calculated  to  induce  a  personal  visit  to  their  territories,  or  a  quiet  inves- 
tigation of  their  manners  and  antiquities.  When  there  was,  therefore, 
scarcely  any  communication  with  the  north  and  west  parts  of  the  conti- 
nent, it  was  impossible  to  acquire  accurate  information  respecting  these 
parts  of  Europe,  or  the  inhabitants;  hence  the  obscure  and  contradictory 
intimations  we  find  concerning  both. 

A  people  who  are  spread  over  a  vast  continent,  cannot  long  remain 
an  entire  nation.    Boundaries,  marked  out  by  nature,  will  divide  the  in- 

*  Livius,  Historia  Romana.  lib.  v.  c.  34,  35.    Appian,  of  the  Gallic  War,  c.  1. 
t  Plutarch,  in  vita  Camilli.    Strabo,  iv.  p.  195,  v.  p.  213. 
t  Pausanias,  x.  19. 


THE  HYPERBOREI. 


23 


habitants  into  separate  communities,  and  local  situation  will  procure  an 
appropriate  name,  and  create  a  difference  in  manners.  In  the  lapse  of 
time  the  dissimilarity  is  increased,  and  when,  from  an  obvious  and  inher- 
ent principle,  every  community  aspires  to  an  independent  existence,  the 
most  powerful  will  acquire  and  retain  an  ascendency  over  the  others, 
who,  ultimately,  become  confederates,  and  are  classed  as  branches  or 
subdivisions  of  a  numerous  association.  Thus  arises  a  variety  of  na- 
tions or  tribes  that  long  continue  to  be  regulated  by  similar  laws  and 
customs,  and  retain  their  original  language,  but  eventually  alter  their 
dialect,  and  lose  the  remembrance  of  a  common  origin. 

The  Celts,  who  were  the  sole  inhabitants  of  Europe  in  the  infancy  of 
time,  were  at  last  formed  into  a  number  of  divisions,  distinguished  by 
peculiar  names,  but  retaining,  with  their  national  affini  ,  the  general 
appellation  of  Celtoe. 

The  apparent  diversity  of  the  ancient  people  of  Europe,  arising,  as  it 
should  seem,  from  the  confused  and  indefinite  ideas  that  existed  respect- 
ing the  regions  of  the  north  and  west,  has  been  a  prolific  source  for 
polemical  discussion,  and  has  afforded  ample  matter  for  '^he  disquisitions 
of  those  who  have  applied  themselves  to  investigate  the  origin  of  nations. 
An  ignorance,  so  favourable  to  the  indulgence  of  fancy,  has  given  op- 
portunity for  the  introduction  of  ficticious  narration.  The  Greeks  were 
extremely  credulous,  and  it  is  often  very  difficult  to  understand  what 
people  were  meant  in  their  dark  and  traditional  relations. 

The  Hyperborei,  or  those  who  lived  beyond  the  north  wind,  appear 
the  most  singular  of  the  people  of  antiquity.  So  dark  are  the  intima- 
tions that  are  handed  down  concerning  them,  that  we  are  inclined  to 
consider  the  whole  as  the  fables  or  allegories  of  an  obscure  theology. 
According  to  some  historians,  si  credimus,  as  Pliny  very  considerately 
adds,  they  dwelt  beyond  the  Riphaean  mountains,  which  were  always 
covered  with  snow,  and  from  whence  the  north  wind  arose:  a  latitude  by 
no  means  suitable  to  the  descriptions  given  by  others,  of  the  genial  cli- 
mate, the  fruitful  soil,  and  the  happy  lives  of  the  inhabitants.*  The  sit- 
uation of  the  Sauromatae,  with  whom  the  Hyperborei  have  been  identi- 
fied, does  not  better  justify  the  appellation.  Strabo  speaks  of  the  Hy- 
perborei as  those  people,  whose  geographical  position  could  scarcely 
give  propriety  to  the  name.  Diodorus  Siculus,  on  the  authority  of  Heca- 
taeus,  a  very  ancient  historian,  who  wrote,  as  Herodotus  informs  us,  a 
volume  on  the  Hyperborei,  describes  them  as  inhabiting  an  island  oppo- 
site to  Gaul,  and  as  large  as  Sicily;  but  he  does  not  appear  to  give 
much  credit  to  the  relation,  t  These  islanders  had  of  long  and  ancient 
time  a  particular  esteem  for  the  Greeks,  arising  from  certain  religious 
connexions,  to  be  hereafter  noticed.  This  description  appears  applica- 
ble to  Britain,  if  there  were  not,  as  Bryant  conjectures,  a  mysterious 

*  Herodotus,  lib.  iv.  Pliny.  Hist.  Nat.iv.  12.  Pomp.  Mela,  i.  1,  &c.  Strabo,  i.  p.  01 

♦  Diod.  Sic.  ii.  3. 


S4 


THE  CIMBRI. 


signification  in  the  name.  It  was  certainly  suited  to  vague  and  unintel- 
ligible ideas  respecting  some  remote  people.  When  Rome  was  taken 
by  the  Gauls  under  Brennus,  it  was  reported  in  the  east  that  his  troops 
were  an  army  of  Hyperborei.*  These  conflicting  accounts  prove  how 
little  was  really  known  of  those  who  dwelt  beyond  the  snowy  regions 
and  the  north  wind. 

The  CiMMERii,  who  are  placed  by  Homer  "at  old  Ocean's  utmost 
bounds,"  and  are  otherwise  believed  to  have  lived  in  Italy,  near  the  lake 
Avernus,  j"^nhabited  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Cimmerian  Bos- 
phorus,  to  which,  either  this  people,  or  an  ancient  city  gave  name.  J 
Eusebius  mentions  an  incursion  of  the  Cimmerii  into  Greece,  1076  years 
before  Christ.  Subsequently,  they  made  inroads  on  losjia  and  Lydia, 
and  took  the  city  of  Sardes.  ^  About  600  years  before  the  Christian  era 
they  were  driven  into  Asia  by  the  Scyths,  where  they  are  all  supposed 
to  have  perished.  They  sometimes  were  called  Trerones,  from  one  of 
their  tribes,  the  Treres,  who  bordered  on  Macedonia;  ||  a  considerable 
distance,  certainly,  from  the  position  which  the  Cimmersans  are  gener- 
ally supposed  to  have  occupied.  Although  the  Cimmerii  would  appear, 
from  the  above  account,  to  have  been  extinct  nearly  2500  years,  Dio- 
nysius  Periegetes  and  Pliny  speak  of  some  of  them  as  still  remaining 
in  their  original  situation;  and  Plutarch  says,  that  the  greater  and  more 
warlike  part  took  up  their  residence  "in  the  remotest  regions  upon  the 
northern  ocean."  H 

It  was  a  prevalent  opinion,  that  they  were  the  same  people  as  the 
CiMBRi,  who  inhabited  Jutland,  Holstein,  &c.  in  Denmark,  formerly 
denominated  the  Cimbrica  Chersonesus,  and  who  introduced  themselves 
to  the  notice  of  the  Romans  1 13  years  A.  C.** 

Diodorus,  from  the  resemblance  which  the  two  people  bore  to  each 

*Heraclides  of  Pontus,  de  anima,  quoted  by  Ritson.  Plutarch,  in  Vita  Camilli^ 
jbid.  t  Strabo,  v.  p.  244. 

t  Strabo,  xi.  p.  494.  Mela.  James  Gronovius  says,  the  city  itself  received  its  nam© 
from  the  Cimmerians,  p.  137,  ed.  1697.  The  Bosphorus  is  now  known  eis  the  Straits 
of  CafFa. 

§  Strabo.    Callisthenes,  apud  Gronovium  in  Animad.  ed.  1739,  &c. 

!|  Strabo,  i.  p.  61.    Pliny,  iv.  10.  H  In  Bello  Cimbrico.    Pliny,  vi.  12. 

The  name  of  these  p>eople  has  received  different  etymological  solutions.  It  is  said 
to  arise  from  the  Greek  Kimeros,  mist  or  darkness,  the  origin  of  the  Latin  Cimmerius. 
Beloe,  on  Herodotus.  Sheringham,  and  Bryant,  in  his  analysis  of  Ancient  Mythology, 
iii.  498,  coincide  in  this  derivation.  Others  have,  deduced  Cimbri  from  a  word  which 
signifies  robbers  in  German  to  this  day.  Festus,  Plutarch,  &c.  Kimper  or  Kimber, 
a  warrior,  is  also  given  as  the  origin.  Whittaker,  alluding  to  the  name,  which  the 
Welch  still  retain,  calls  Cymri  and  Gael,  equally  the  general  designations  of  the  Celtse, 
being  the  hereditary  name  of  the  Gauls,  from  Gomer,  the  son  of  Japhet,  an  opinion 
that  is  embraced  by  others,  and  seems  founded  on  the  conjecture  of  Josephus,  Antiq 
1.  6.  It  is  an  origin  of  the  "  grand  generic  term,"  much  easier  admitted  than  that  they 
"  were  produced  from  the  elements  of  their  own  proper  soil  and  climate." — O'Conner. 
Cielland,  Voc.  p.  202,  says  the  app>ellation  comes  from  the  ancient  Celtic  Kym,  a 
mountain.    We  find  tlie  island  of  Cimbrei,  now  Cumray,  the  kingdom  of  Cumbria 


THE  CIMBRI. 


26 


other  in  warlike  renown,  says  the  Cimbrians  were  beheved  by  many  to 
be  descended  from  the  ancient  Cimmerians,  and  Possidonius  thinks  the 
former  were  the  original  people,  who,  extending  their  arms  eastward^ 
gave  their  name  to  the  Bosphorus,  an  opinion  in  which  Strabo  seems  to 
acquiesce  *  The  memorials  of  the  ancient  Cimmerii,  who  were  so  great 
and  powerful,  appear  to  have  been  chiefly  records  of  their  military  en- 
terprises. Those  people,  who  afterwards  were  found  on  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic,  although  bearing  a  name  so  much  alike,  excited  little  notice 
until  they  burst  on  the  astonished  nations,  and  threatened  the  subversion 
of  the  Roman  empire.  It  was  then  natural  to  inquire  what  they  were, 
and  whence  they  came,  and  it  was  not  strange  that  the  warlike  Cimbri 
should  be  derived  from  the  anciently  renowned  Cimmerii.  Such  a  de- 
scent, notwithstanding  the  distance  between  their  respective  situations,! 
is  not  impossible;  but  a  similarity  of  name  is  not  a  decisive  proof  of  na- 
tional identity:  it  demonstrates  the  existence  at  some  period  of  a  univer- 
sal language.  In  the  want  of  certain  information,  and  from  the  ambi- 
guity of  the  ancient  historians,  much  diversity  of  opinion  has  arisen 
concerning  these  people.  Some  authors  positively  affirm,  that  the  Cim- 
brians must  have  been  Celts;  and  others,  with  equal  pertinacity,  assert 
that  they  were  Germans;  and  both  parties  are  provided  with  authorities 
in  vindication  of  their  belief  The  expressions  of  several  ancient  writ- 
ers, perhaps,  leave  it  doubtful  which  nation  they  understood  the  Cimbri 
to  be  most  nearly  related  to;  but  others  are  sufficiently  explicit.  Plu- 
tarch says,  that  by  their  gray  eyes  and  large  stature,  they  were  thought 
by  some  to  be  Germans,  dwelling  on  the  north  sea; J  and  Pomponius 
Mela  says,  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  are  situated  in  the  Codan  bay, 
"  beyond  the  Hermiones  and  the  last  of  Germany."^  Pliny, |1  Strabo, 
Velleius  Paterculus,  Tacitus,  and  others  agree  in  calling  them  Germans. 
On  the  other  hand,  Cicero,  Sallust,  Dio,  Sextus  Rufus,  &c.  uniformly 
denominate  them  Celts  or  Gauls.  Valerius  Maximus,  speaking  of  their 
invasion  of  Italy,  says,  Sertorius  qualified  himself  for  a  spy,  by  assum- 
ing the  Gallic  habit,  and  learning  that  language. If  Florus,  on  the  same 
subject,  says,  the  Cimbri,  Theutoni,  and  Tigurini,  came  from  the  most 
remote  parts  of  Gaul:**  out  of  the  hidden  parts  of  the  ocean,  as  Ammi- 
anus  expresses  it.||  Diodorus  states,  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  many, 
that  the  Celts  were  themselves  descended  of  the  ancient  Cimmerii,  who, 
by  a  corrupt  pronunciation,  were  then  called  Cimbri.  The  Gauls  who 
overran  all  Asia,  he  also  says,  were  denominated  Cimmerii,  and  in  his 

&c.  In  the  Commentaries  of  Csesar  we  also  find  Cimber  a  proper  name.  The  Bretons 
are  said  to  assume  the  name  Cumero. 

*  Lib.  vii.  p.  293.  t  Nearly  1400  miles.  1 1"  vita  Camilli. 

§  De  orbis  situ,  lii.  c.  3. '  ||  Lib.  iv.  c.  14. 

IT  Vita  Sertorii.  Caesar  says,  the  Aduatici,  a  tribe  of  Belgic  Gauls,  were  Cimbri,  lib 
li.  c.  29.  Dio.  Cassius  repeats  this,  lib.  xxxix.  4,  and  Appian  says  the  Nervii,  a  most 
powerful  Belgian  nation,  were  descended  of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones,  lib.  vi.  2.  See 
the  opinions  of  various  authors  in  Ritson's  Memoirs  of  the  Celts. 

**  Lib.  iii.  3.    Strabo,  ii.  p.  102  it  Lib.  xxxi.  6.   tt  Lib.  v.  2. 

4 


36 


THE  SCYTHS. 


account  of  the  Lusitanians,  he  calls  them  the  most  valiant  of  all  tno 
Cimbri.  "  Celtte  sive  Galli  quos  Cimbros  vocant,"  are  the  striking 
words  of  Appian.* 

Some  have  reconciled  these  different  and  contradictory  passages  by  the 
consideration,  that  several  tribes  of  Gauls  joined  in  the  expedition  to 
Italy.  If,  however,  the  two  people  had  been  entirely  distinct,  the  dis- 
similarity would  most  probably  have  been  noticed;  but  the  manners  of 
the  Cimbri,  as  they  were  displayed  to  the  Romans,  do  not  appear  to  have 
differed  materially  from  those  of  the  other  inhabitants  of  Gaul.  The 
terror  inspired  by  the  overwhelming  invasion,  through  which  their  name 
first  became  known,  113  years  before  the  Christian  era,  seems  to  have 
prevented  a  calm  survey  of  visitors  so  alarming  and  so  unexpected. 

An  army  of  these  people,  so  numerous,  that,  marching  without  inter- 
mission, six  days  elapsed  before  it  had  wholly  passed,  burst  from  the 
Alps  like  an  irresistible  torrent;  resolved  not  to  stop  until  the  city  of 
Rome  had  been  razed  to  its  foundations.  After  several  successful  bat- 
tles, this  vast  multitude  were  indeed  finally  routed,  with  incredible  car- 
nage;! but  the  magnitude  of  the  enterprise,  and  the  desperate  valor  of 
the  troops,  made  the  strongest  impression. 

The  Cimbri  remained  long  after  this  in  their  ancient  seats,  and  ob- 
tained the  friendship  of  the  Romans,  but  never  regained  their  former 
military  renown. 

The  history  of  the  people  denominated  Scyths,  who,  from  their  vari- 
ous achi^ements,  appear  to  have  been  a  numerous  and  powerful  race, 
is  involved  in  singular  obscurity.  It  has  excited  much  interest,  but  the 
labors  of  those  who  have  investigated  the  subject,  notwithstanding  their 
care  in  the  pursuit,  have  not  produced  a  very  satisfactory  result.  Great 
learning,  assisted  by  ingenious  conjecture,  has  been  exerted  to  ascertain 
whether  the  Celtse  or  the  Scythee  are  the  most  ancient  people.  The  lat- 
ter appear  in  a  period  the  most  remote,  and  they  are  mentioned  with  so 
much  ambiguity,  that  it  seems  impossible  to  unravel  the  intricacy  of  their 
history.  They  are  represented  as  conquering  Asia  3660  years  before  the 
epoch  of  redemption,  and  effecting-  various  other  important  revolutions  in 
succeeding  ages,  until  the  seventh  century  before  our  era,  when  they  ap- 
pear in  Medea,  whither  they  had  pursued  the  Cimmerians.  J  They  are  sup- 
posed by  many  to  have  been  those  who  are  now  called  Tartars,  and  by  some 
they  are  identified  with  the  Celtae.  Bryant,  observing  that  there  were 
Scyths  in  Asia  and  Africa,  as  well  as  in  Europe,  thinks  the  name  was  giv- 
en to  mixed  and  wandering  tribes  in  different  parts  of  the  world  ;§  in  which 
opmion  Gibbon  concurs,  calling  it  "  a  vague  but  familiar  appellation. "|l 

Strabo  says,  that,  as  Homer  has  intimated,  all  nations  were  originally 
called  Scythae  or  Nomades;  and  afterwards,  in  the  countries  of  the  west. 


*  In  Illyricis,  c.  2.  t  See  Plutarch's  account  of  the  Cimbrian  war 

t  Herodotus,  iv.  1.  §  Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythology. 

II  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 


THE  GOTHS. 


27 


they  began  to  acquire  the  appellations  of  Celtae,  Celto-Scythos,  and 
Iberi;  but  all  the  nations  had  at  first  one  name.* 

The  Scythians  were  certainly  not  recent  settlers  among  the  Aborigi- 
nes; for,  like  the  Celta?,  they  had  no  idea  of  having  ever  possessed  oth- 
er lands,  but  believed  themselves  more  ancient  than  the  Egyptians,  who 
called  themselves  the  most  ancient  of  men."f  The  term  IKTQyf^,  a 
word,  that  has,  like  others,  received  an  abundant  share  of  different  ety- 
mologies, was  probably  first  used  among  the  Greeks  by  .^schylus,  6^25 
years  anterior  to  the  Christian  era.  J  Amongst  the  Persians,  Sacre  was  a 
general  name  for  all  Scythians but  in  Europe,  it  seems  to  have  been 
limited  to  the  most  celebrated  nation  amongst  these  people.  ||  The  Greeks 
long  retained  the  name  of  Scytha3,ir  which  they  applied  to  those  nations 
known  to  the  Romans,  at  first  as  Get^  or  Getians,  latterly  as  Goths. 
Zosimus  and  other  late  Greek  writers,  always  denominate  those  Scythians, 
who  were  called  Getes  by  the  Romans;  and  Dexippus,  who  wrote  in  the 
third  century,  entitles  his  history  of  their  wars  with  the  empire,  Scythica.** 

When  Darius  made  his  famous  expedition  against  the  European 
Scythae,  514  years  before  Christ,  he  found  the  Getae  a  warlike  people, 
situated  on  the  western  shores  of  the  Euxine,  and  having  subdued  them, 
he  went  in  pursuit  of  the  Scyths,  who  studiously  avoided  a  collision  with 
his  forces.  One  hundred  and  eighty  years  afterwards,  Alexander  led 
his  troops  on  a  similar  expedition,  and  found  the  same  inhabitants.!! 

From  these  invasions,  the  Greeks  appear  to  have  acquired  their  first 
knowledge  of  the  Scythic  nations. 

Pliny  says,  these  people  inhabited  from  the  mouth  of  the  Danube,  in- 
land, and  that  their  tribes  acquired  various  names,  the  ancient  denomi- 
nation being  retained  by  those  only  who  lived  in  the  most  remote  and 
unknown  parts.       Prisons,  Theophanes,  and  others,  speak  of  this  peo- 

*  Lib.  i.  p.  33.  Falconer,  in  his  edition,  i.  p.  48,  remarks  on  JVvimdao,  apud  Ho- 
merum  non  memini  me  legere  hoc  vocabulum."  Xylander  had  done  the  same.  Cas- 
aubon  thinks  the  word  used  was  different,  but  of  the  same  signification.  Nomades  is 
expressive  of  the  shepherd  state  of  society.  Nomades  and  Georgians  appear  to  signify 
pastoral  and  agricultural  people.  Pliny,  iv.  12.  The  Greeks,  according  to  Wachter, 
placed  the  Scyths  towards  the  north,  the  Celts  to  the  west,  and  the  Celto-Scythee  in  a 
middle  situation.  Newton  says  all  Europe  was  peopled  with  Cimmerii  and  Scythians, 
before  the  time  of  Samuel.  Chronology 

t  Justin,  quoted  in  a  note  on  Beloe's  Herodotus. 

X  Pinkerton's  Dissertation  on  the  Goths.  Scyth  comes  from  Scytan ;  which,  in  the 
eastern  language,  signifies  a  dart. — Wachter.  Sciot,  is  in  old  Gaelic,  a  dart  or  arrow. 
— "  Ogygia--"  Clelland  says,  Scuyt,  is  a  man  of  the  north.  The  Scyths  were  called 
Aerpata,  "  ab  aeor,  vir,  et  pata,  csedere,"  sic.  Herodotus,  ii.  12.  See  the  etymologies 
of  the  name  Scot. 

§  Herodotus,  vii.  c.  60.    SacsB  appears  a  corruption  of  Scythae.    Appian,  iii. 

II  Pliny.    Diod.  Sic.  IT  "  Even  until  the  14th  century."  Pinkerton. 

**  It  has  been  supposed,  that  Scythse,  Skutae,  Kutae,  are  but  different  readings  of 
Getae.  Beloe,  ut  sup.  Get,  or  Got,  according  to  Torfaeus,  anciently  signified  a  sol- 
dier, ft  Herodotus,  iv. 

XX  Lib.  iv.  12.  The  term  Gothi  began,  in  his  time,  to  supplant  the  ancient  name  of 
GetBD. 


THE  DACIANS. 


pie  under  both  the  Greek  and  Roman  appellations;  and  the  philosopher 
Anacharsis,  celebrated  as  a  learned  Scythian,  was  related  to  the  royal 
princes  of  Getia.  The  two  names  were,  therefore,  certainly  applied  to 
the  same  people. 

"  To  the  left  (of  the  Danube)  are  the  ScythfB  nomades  towards  the 
west,  who  are  spread  even  to  the  east  sea  and  India,"  are  the  words  of 
Strabo;*  who  elsewhere  says,  the  most  considerable  river  which  flows 
through  Scythia,  is  the  Danube :  and  this  river  is  placed  by  Diodorus  among 
those  of  Gaul, I  where  it  certainly  arose,  and  discharged  itself  in  the 
Euxine,  in  the  territories  of  the  Getce,  who  lived  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  stream.  Pliny  speaks  of  the  Scythians  inhabiting  a  part  of  Moesia, 
towards  Pontus;  and  those  who  lived  in  that  country  were  afterwards 
classed  among  the  Gothic  nations.  Herodotus  says,  where  Thrace  ends, 
Scythia  begins,  and  extends  westward  to  the  city  Carcinitis.J 

From  this  indefinite  application  of  the  term  Scythae,  it  appears  to  have 
been  suitable  to  various  tribes,  and  most  probably  was  used  to  designate 
those  who  remained  in  the  state  of  Nomades,  while  others,  who  were 
settled,  became  distinguished  by  peculiar  names,  as  Pliny  seems  to  have 
understood.^  It  is  otherwise  scarcely  possible  to  account  for  the  remote 
and  disconnected  situations  in  which  this  people  are  found. 

Their  vagrant  habits  were  proverbial.  Herodotus  says,  they  had  nei- 
ther towns  nor  fortified  places,  but  carried  their  habitations  along  with 
them,  so  that  their  constant  abode  might  be  said  to  be  in  their  wagons ;|| 
and  these  habits  characterized  them  in  the  time  of  Ammianus,  who  des- 
cribes them  as  wandering  over  the  wilds  in  their  carts,  whensoever  and 
whither  they  pleased  :ir  a  mode  of  life  which  Horace  seems  to  envy.** 

The  Daci,  who  lived  contiguous  to  the  Getse,  are  often  confounded 
with  them,  which  evidently  shows  that  little  difference  could  exist  be- 
tween the  two  people.  They  are,  it  is  true,  frequently  mentioned  dis- 
tinctively, but  we  have  Strabo's  authority,  that  the  terms  were  indiscrim- 
inately used;|f  and  Pliny  tells  us,  that  the  Romans  called  the  people  by 
either  name,  "  Getog,  Daci,  Romanis  dicti."  Strabo  says,  the  Daci 
"ab  antiquo"  lived  towards  Germany,  around  the  sources  of  the  Dan- 
ube,JJ  which  is  considerably  to  the  west  of  the  situation  which  is  after- 
wards assigned  them;  but  it  is  apparent  that  the  Celts  themselves  have 
been  considered  Scyths.  Plutarch  says,  "the  Celtce  extend  from  the 
Western  Ocean  to  the  part  of  Scythia  on  the  Euxine;  that  the  two  na- 
tions mingle  together;  and  that,  notwithstanding  they  are  distinguished 
by  difljerent  names,  according  to  their  tribes,  yet  their  whole  army  is 

*  Lib.  xi.  p.  507.  t  Lib.  v.  2.  t  Lib.  iv.  96. 

§  Lib.  iv.  12.    The  Scholiast  of  Appollonius  Rhodius,  who  flourished  230  years,  a.  c 
Bpeaks  of  50  nations  of  Scyths.  H  Lib.  iv.  IT  Lib.  xxii.  8. 

**    Campestres  melius  Scythse 
Quorum  plaustra  vagas  rite  trahunt  domos 
Vivunt,  et  rigidi  Getae."    Lib.  iii.  23.  9. 
tlLib.  vii.  p.  304.  Lib.  vii 


THE  SCYTHIANS. 


29 


called  Celto-Scythae,"*  That  the  Greeks  denominated  the  northern  na- 
tions Celto-Scyths,  has  been  before  observed.  Anastasius,  a  writer  of 
the  ninth  century,  says  the  ancients  were  accustomed  to  call  all  the 
northern  region  Scythia,  where  are  the  Goths  and  Danes;!  and  Ortellius 
remarks,  "  Celtas  cum  Scythis,  conjungit  Aristoteles  de  mundo."J  A 
line  of  demarcation  has  been  drawn  between  the  two  people,  at  the  point 
"  where  the  waters  flow  eastward  to  the  Euxine,  and  westward  to  the 
Atlantic  but  they  are  so  little  discriminated,  that  a  precise  definition 
of  their  territories  is  impossible,  and  when  we  speak  of  the  one  people, 
we  must  "  often  include  an  idea  of  both."|| 

The  Goths,  or  Scythians,  are,  therefore,  an  aboriginal  people  of  Eu- 
rope, differing  in  some  resoects  from  their  predecessors  the  Celts.  That 
they  were  of  the  same  race,  but  later  in  the  stream  of  population  that 
flowed  westward,  is  the  clear  inference  from  all  that  the  ancients  have 
left  us  concerning  them. 

Strabo  observes,  that  the  Greeks  called  the  Getae,  Dacians,  and  reck- 
oned both  Thracians,  because  they  all  used  the  same  language.  Thrace 
anciently  extended  from  the  Danube  to  the  Gulf  of  Corinth, IT  and  when 
the  dispute  between  Erectheus,  and  Eumolpus  the  Thracian,  who  laid 
claim  to  Athens  as  part  of  his  father's  territory,  was  settled,  it  was 
agreed  that  both  people  should  be  considered  as  one,  and  that  the  mys- 
teries celebrated  at  Eleusis,  the  capital  of  Thrace,  should  be  equally  re- 
vered at  Athens.**  Thus,  3000  years  ago,  the  Greeks  and  Barbarians 
were  but  beginning  to  consider  themselves  different  people.  The  cog- 
nate marks  by  which  nations  of  identic  origin  are  recognised,  were  not 
effaced  among  the  Scythic  race  long  after  the  unmixed  Celts  had  been 
confined  to  the  west.  When  Xenophon  finished  the  retreat  of  the  10,000 
among *the  Getse,  398  years,  a.  c.  the  Greeks  were  then  received  as  a 
kindred  people. || 

The  wisdom,  the  learning,  the  justice,  and  the  clemency  of  the  Scy- 
thic nations,  have  been  much  extolled.  So  great  praise  could  not  have 
been  bestowed  without  some  reason,  and  we  therefore  find  many  illustri- 
ous persons  of  antiquity  were  connected  by  birth  with  the  Getic  tribes. 

The  Celts,  who  were  "the  most  remote  inhabitants  towards  the 
west"§^  500  years  before  the  advent  of  Christ,  retained  the  same  posi- 

*In  vita  Marii.  t  Pinkerton's  Inquiry,  i.  192. 

t  Geographia,  1595.  He  considers  all  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Europe,  Celts,  and 
quotes  many  authorities  to  prove  all  the  northern  nations  of  that  race.  See  his  map 
of  Europe,  &c. 

§  Caledonia,  i.  p.  10.  ||  Ogygia. 

IT  Thucydides,  ii.  29.  Hence  Pausanias  speaks  of  the  Getse  obtaining  "  that  part  of 
Thrace  which  is  beyond  the  Ister,"  i.  c.  9. 

**  See  Clarke  on  Coins,  p.  66,  with  his  authorities. 

tt  Herodotus,  iv.  93,  ap.  Caledonia.  Strabo,  Lib.  vii.  says  the  Celts  and  Thracians 
mingled  together, 

tt  Anacharsis.  Menander,  the  inventor  of  comedy.    Zamalxis,  who  wrote  of  a  place 
of  happiness  in  a  future  state,  &c.  &c.  &c. 
^§  Except  the  Cynetce.     Herodotus,  iv.  c.  3. 


30 


THE  BELGIANS  AND  GERMANS. 


tion  when  Ceesar  commenced  the  Gallic  war,  fifty-seven  years  befoio 
that  era.  At  this  time  they  appeared  in  three  great  divisions:  the  Cel- 
tae,  the  Belga?,  and  the  Aquitani;  distinct  fiom  each  other,  and  sepa- 
rated fi-oni  the  Germans  by  the  river  Rhine.  *  We  have  here  a  proof 
of  the  gradual  formation  of  several  nations,  from  one  numerous  and 
wide-spread  race;  for  the  more  ancient  historians  were  ignorant  of  these 
divisions,  and  the  terms,  even  at  the  above  period,  seem  to  have  been 
applied  more  as  local  distinctions  of  the  same  race,  than  indications 
of  different  people. 

Diodorus  relates,  what  he  tells  us  few  knew  any  thing  about,  that 
the  Celtte  inhabited  the  inland  parts  about  the  Alps,  and  on  this  side 
the  Pyrennean  mountains,  called  Celtica;  and  those  who  were  below 
this  part,  southward  to  the  ocean,  and  the  mountain  Hyrcinus,  and  all 
as  far  as  Scythia,  were  called  Gauls;  but  the  Romans  called  all  the  in- 
habitants by  one  and  the  same  name  of  Gauls."!  Caesar,  who  describes 
the  three  nations  as  differing  from  each  other  in  customs,  language,  and 
laws,  at  the  same  time  says,  that  the  whole  people  continued  to  denomi- 
nate themselves  Celtse,  which  term  was  also  sometimes  used  by  the  Ro- 
mans with  the  more  familiar  appellation  of  Galli,  as  other  writers  also 
notice. J 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  who  lived  438  years  later  than  Caesar,  thinks 
it  rather  a  matter  of  conjecture  than  of  fact,  that  Gaul  was  inhabited  by 
three  sorts  of  people,  and  he  as  a  soldier,  had  often  come  in  contact  with 
their  troops,  and  had  served  in  Gaul  and  Germany,  along  with  numer- 
ous bodies  of  Celtic  auxiliaries. 

An  examination  of  the  ancient  historians  and  geographers,  will  show 
the  positions  of  the  three  nations,  and  wherein  they  differed  from  each 
other,  and  from  the  people  who  dwelt  around  them. 

From  the  Garonne  to  the  Seine  and  Marne  was  the  possession  of  the 
Celt^,  who  retained  their  ancient  and  appropriate  name,  as  they  did  also 
that  of  their  country,  which  was  called  Celtica.  From  the  S*^ine  to  the 
Rhine  were  the  territories  of  the  Belg.^:,  who  were  the  most  celebrated 
nation  of  Gaul.  This  people  believed  themselves  descended  of  the  Ger- 
MANNi,  from  whom  they  were  only  separated  by  the  Rhine;  but  in  those 
ancient  times,  when  the  Germans  are  said  to  have  sent  this  colony 
across  the  river  to  settle  in  Belgica,  were  they  not  themselves  Celtae, 
with  whom  they  retained  the  common  tradition  of  being  indigenous?^ 
Dio  Nicaeus  says,  that,  in  the  most  ancient  times,  the  inhabitants  of  both 
sides  of  the  Rhine  called  themselves  by  the  same  name,  Celts;  and  he 
himself  calls  the  Belgians,  Celtics. ||    Josephus  calls  the  German  legion, 

*  Caesar  de  Bello  Gallico,  i.  t  Lib.  v.  c.  2. 

t  De  Bello  Gallico.    Pliny,  iv. 

§  Tacitus  de  Moribus  Germanorum.  Like  the  Celts,  they  also  affected  a  celestial 
crigin.  In  their  old  poems  they  celebrated  Tuisto,  a  god  sprung  from  the  earth,  and 
nis  son,  Mannus,  as  their  first  parents. 

11  Quoted  in  Ritson's  Memoirs  of  the  Celts. 


THE  BELGIANS  AND  GERMANS. 


31 


which  formed  Caligula's  body  guard,  the  Celtic;  and  Ortellius,  who 
cites  many  authorities,  says  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  historians  is, 
that  those  called  Gauls  and  Germans  were  Celts.  *  Strabo  found  the 
two  people  closely  resembled  each  other  in  manners  and  personal  ap- 
pearance, from  which  he  conceived  that  the  Germans  had  been  rightly 
named  the  brethren  of  the  Gauls.  His  etymology  may  be  wrong,!  but 
the  term  was  certainly  imposed  by  the  Romans,  and  never  acknowledg- 
ed by  themselves. J  Suidas,  in  like  manner,  affirms  that  the  Celts  were 
also  called  Germans,  but  Schoepflin  understands  him  to  mean  otherwise.^ 
Many  Gallic  nations  were  settled  on  the  German  side  of  the  Rhine, 
and  one  of  the  most  considerable  was  that  of  the  Helvetii,  who  are  de- 
scribed by  Ccesar  as  in  no  respect  different  from  the  other  inhabitants  ;|1 
at  the  same  time  he  says,  they  were  not  entirely  similar  to  the  Celts. IT 
This  is  inconsistent  with  what  he  has  elsewhere  observed  of  these  colo- 
nies,** and  perhaps  implies  no  greater  variation  than  what  is  observable 
between  the  remote  districts  of  all  countries;  for  throughout  his  Com- 
mentaries, it  does  not  appear  that  the  difference  between  the  Celtic  na- 
tions was  very  material.  Tacitus,  finding  so  many  Gauls  in  Germany, 
endeavors  to  account  for  part  of  them,  by  saying  they  were  vagabonds, 
who,  being  reduced  by  poverty  to  the  necessity  of  leaving  their  own 
country,  settled  on  the  waste  lands  that  appeared  to  belong  to  no  certain 
proprietor.  Caesar  says,  these  Gaulish  emigrants  established  themselves 
in  the  most  fruitful  places;  but  even  had  these  tracts  been  entirely  un- 
occupied, bands  of  robbers,  however  desperate  they  may  have  become, 
would  have  had  some  difficulty  in  taking  forcible  possession  of  them. 
The  Germans  looked  sharply  after  their  waste  lands,  and  were  by  no  means 
inclined  to  let  strangers  occupy  even  the  most  desert  places. .  The  poor 
Ansibarians,  one  of  their  own  tribes,  after  an  unsuccessful  revolt,  were 
1^  not  permitted  to  settle  any  where  among  them,  but  were  exposed  to  all 
the  Roman  vengeance  for  asserting  their  liberty,  and  wandered  about 
until  they  were  utterly  exterminated. ||  The  probability  is,  that  the 
Gallic  colonies  obtained  peaceable  settlements  from  the  claims  of  nation- 
al affinity;  and  it  may  be  proof  of  a  good  understanding  between  the  two 
people,  if  it  goes  not  farther,  that  several  German  tribes  made  common 
cause  with  the  Belgic  armies  in  the  Gallic  war.  Tacitus  has  himself,  in 
another  place,  acknowledged  the  close  resemblance  of  the  nations  in- 
habiting both  sides  of  the  Rhine;  and  the  tradition  that  the  Belgians  were 
a  colony  of  Germans,  may  have  arisen  from  some  faint  recollection  of  the 
progress  of  the  ancient  Celtae  to  the  west  of  Europe. 

It  has  been  much  disputed  whether  the  Germans  are  of  Scythic  or  Sar- 

*  Geographia,  sub  Europa.    He  also  speaks  of"  Celtica  sive  Germanica."    See  also 
Sheringham,  de  Anglorum  gentis  origine, 
t  Lib.  iv.  p.  195,  vii.  p.  290. 

t  Mr.  Greatheed,  in  Archaslogia,  xvi.    Clarke  says  the  word  signifies  swordsmen  or 
warriors  §    Vindiciae  Celticse." 

II  Bello  Gallico,  vi.  c.  22.  IT  Ibid.  vi.  c.  19. 

**Ibid.  vi.  c.  10.  1 1  Tacitus,  Annals 


32 


THE  AQUITANl  GAULS  AND  IBERIANS. 


matian  origin.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  much  on  a  subject  which 
has  been  treated  with  a  greater  degree  of  attention  than  it  perhaps  mer- 
its.* Pomponius  Mela  says,  the  Sarmatae  and  the  Germanni  were  tiie  same 
people,  and  Pliny  affirms  that  they  were  anciently  Scyths:  the  name 
ScythiE,  says  he,  is  changed  into  that  of  Sarmatians  and  Germans. | 
Pausanias  remarks  the  nomadic  state  in  which  the  Sauromatae  lived, J 
and  in  which  they  bore  so  strong  a  resemblance  to  the  Scythians,  of 
whom,  according  to  Procopius,  they  were  but  a  tribe.  Some  of  the  Sar- 
matae appear,  from  Pliny,  to  have  been  in  Pannonia,  and  Diodorus 
brings  them  from  Medea;  but  they  may,  with  some  propriety,  be  said  to 
have  perambulated  rather  than  inhabited  a  country.^ 

The  extent  of  Germania  in  later  times  seems  not  to  have  been  very 
well  ascertained.  It  was  called  Lochlin,  or  Lychlitf,  by  the  British 
tribes;  a  name  that  repeatedly  occurs  in  the  works  of  the  bards,  and  was 
extended  to  Scandinavia.  A  Gaelic  MS.,  of  the  ninth  or  tenth  century, 
describes  Gaul  and  Lochlin  as  one  and  the  same  country,  only  divided 
by  the  Rhine. [j 

The  Aq,uita.ni,  the  third  division  of  the  Celtae,  were  situated  between 
the  river  Garonne  and  the  Pyrennean  mountains,  and  they  called  their 
country  Aremorica.lF  The  most  considerable  difference  between  the 
Gauls  was  found  in  the  inhabitants  of  this  district,  who  resembled  the 
Iberians  more  than  the  other  Celts.** 

This  personal  resemblance  of  the  two  nations  may  have  arisen  from 
their  vicinity  to  each  other,  and  a  different  complexion  from  the  northern 
Gauls  appears  to  have  been  the  effect  of  a  warmer  climate;  but  a  better 
reason  for  the  similarity  may  be  found  in  the  authorities  already  quoted, 
as  well  as  in  others,  where  it  appears  that  the  Iberians  were  themselves 
originally  Celtae,  who,  crossing  the  Pyrennees,  acquired  the  name  of  Cel- 
tiberi,  or  rather  Celtae-Iberi ;  the  inhabitants  of  both  sides  of  these  moun- 
tains living  in  amity  and  friendship,  intermarrying,  and  wearing  the  same 
dress,  the  Celts  inhabiting  the  accessible  parts  of  the  mountain  itself.|| 
Ephorus,  according  to  Strabo,  extends  Gaul  to  the  city  of  Cadiz. 

The  Gauls,  after  having  remained  in  the  west  and  north  of  Europe 
until  they  had  become  very  numerous,  sent  back  their  redundant  popu- 
lation to  seek  for  new  settlements  in  the  countries  which  were  peopled 
by  the  first  Celtic  migrations,  but  where  all  recollection  of  their  common 
origin  was  apparently  lost,  and  i..  x,ny  colonies  were  established  in  vari- 
ous places. 

*  See  the  works  of  Dr.  and  James  Macpherson,  Pinkerton,  and  many  others. 

t  Lib.  iv.  c.  12.  In  lib.  ii.  c.  13,  he  expressly  says,  European  Scythia  comprehended 
Germany.  tLib.  i.e.  21.  §  Macpherson's  Introduction. 

II  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Highland  Society  on  the  Poems  of  Ossian,  Ap- 
pendix, p.  309.  Lychlyn,  i.  e.  the  lake  of  standing  water,  is  the  Welsh  name  for  the 
Baltic.  Ccesar,  de  B.  G.  vii.  c.  32.    Phny,  iv.  c.  17. 

Strabo,  iv.  p.  176. 

tt  Diod.  Sic.  V.  c.  2.  Strabo,  iii.  p.  162.  Appian,  in  Ibericis,  lib.  vi.  c.  2.  "  Gallorura 
Celtae  miscentes  nomen  Iberis."    Luean,iv.  9 


ANCIENT  LANGUAGES. 


33 


Italy  itself  was  originally  peopled  by  the  Celtae,  in  their  progressive 
ndvances  to  the  extremities  of  the  west.  The  Umbrians,  "  an  exceed- 
ing great  and  ancient  people,"  were  the  first  known  inhabitants,  and 
were  certainly  Gauls,*  and  the  progenitors  of  the  Sabines,  whom  Cicero 
calls  the  flower  of  Italy.  Like  the  Aquitani  about  the  Pyrennees,  the 
Celts  dwelt  on  each  side  of  the  Alps.  Near  them  were  the  Turinois, 
Agoniens,  and  many  other  nations  of  the  same  race.|  The  Ligurians, 
Hetruscans,  Venetians,  Insubrians,  &c,  were  undoubtedly  Celts;  but 
many  Gallic  colonies  at  different  periods  settled  in  Italy,  where  a  nation- 
al relationship,  in  all  probability,  assisted  them  in  obtaining  favorable 
possessions.  The  territories  of  this  people  were  called  by  the  Romans 
Cisalpine  Gaul;  and  when  they  had  been  subdued,  and  had  obtained  the 
privileges  of  Roman  citizens,  the  province  was  distinguished  by  the  name 
of  Gallia  Togata. 

The  apparent  variety  of  Languages  among  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
Europe,  is  advanced  as  a  strong  argument  in  proof  of  a  diversity  of 
races.  The  Celts  were  the  sole  people  who,  after  their  migrations,  set- 
tled in  the  west  and  north  of  Europe,  and  spreading  themselves  over  a 
large  continent,  they  became  separated  into  cantons  or  nations,  that  ac- 
quired or  assumed  distinctive  appellations.  As  the  learned  Dr.  Murray 
observes,  "each  horde  soon  multiplied  into  various  nations,  regulated 
by  similar  customs,  and  loosely  connected  by  language."  Various  cir- 
cumstances operating  on  their  common  speech,  gave  rise  to  peculiar 
pronunciation  or  dialect. J  The  change  of  old,  the  substitution  of  new 
words,  and  other  causes  affecting  articulation,  produce,  in  time,  great 
difference  between  the  speech  of  distant  places  in  an  extensive  country; 
but  among  nations  of  identic  origin,  there  must  long  continue  a  close 
affinity  of  language.  That  the  Celtic  and  Gothic  are  derived  from  the 
same  source  is  evinced  by  many  works  of  profound  learning,  and  if  a 
resemblance  or  connexion  between  them  is  still  to  be  traced,  the  similar- 
ity must  have  been  much  more  perceptible  2000  years  ago.  Thucydides 
says,  that  before  Homer's  time,  there  was  no  distinction  known  between 
the  Greeks  and  those  called  Barbarians;  that  the  whole  inhabitants 
closely  resembled  each  other  in  customs,  manners,  and  language,  and 
lived  in  a  good  understanding  with  each  other. 

The  language  of  the  Greeks  and  Thracians  was  anciently  as  much 
alike  as  their  religion;  and  Orpheus,  Musoeus,  with  several  other  poets, 
celebrated  as  Greeks,  were  certainly  Thracians.^  Ovid  says  that  the 
Getic  language,  although  much  altered,  still  retained  evident  marks  of 
its  Grecian  original.    Wachter  shows  that  the  Celto-Scyths,  being  the 

*Servius,  in  Eneid,  Solinus.  Tzetzes  on  Lycophron,  Pezron,  &c.  Pliny  tells  us 
the  Tuscans  won  300  cities  from  them,  and  amera,  according  to  Cato,  was  founded 
964  years  before  the  war  with  Perseus.  t  Polybius,  &c. 

I  M.  Bullet,  Memoir  sur  la  langue  Celtique,  i.  c.  4,  says  the  difference  of  climate 
will  alter  a  language. 

§  Orpheus  is  represented  as  a  native  of  Thessaly,but  this  country  was  originally  part 
of  Thrace.  Strabo. 


31 


ANCIENT  LANGUAGES. 


most  ancient  Germans,  and  the  progenitors  of  the  Goths,  Saxons,  and 
other  nations,  "  their  tongue,  although  from  the  mutations  of  ages  now 
very  much  altered,"  must  have  originally  been  the  Celtic  language.* 
The  Anglo-Saxon  itself,  derived  from  the  Ingevones,  "  is  the  maritime 
daughter  of  Celtica,  and  the  first  born,  from  her  nativity  neither  entirely 
similar,  nor  altogether  unlike."!  Schilter  J  and  Gebelin  §  also  prove 
this  family  connexion.  "These  vastly  learned  authors  demonstrate, 
without  intending  it,  that  the  Celtic  and  Teutonic  languages  had  a  com- 
mon origin.  "Il  The  similarity  of  the  Greek  and  Teutonic  has  often  been 
observed.  This  fact  first  struck  Camden,  Stephens,  and  Scaliger;  but 
"  Salmasius,  Francis  Junius,  and  Meric  Casaubon,  first  inferred  that 
the  Greek  and  Gothic  languages,  which  were  so  similar  in  many  re- 
spects, must  have  come  from  a  common  parent;  "IT  an^  this  evidence  of 
speaking  the  same  tongue,  may  be  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  surest 
proofs  of  original  descent.*'* 

The  Latin,  which  is  composed,  according  to  Dr.  Smith, H  of  the 
Greek  and  ancient  languages  of  Italy,  affords  a  less  striking  resemblance 
to  the  Gothic.  The  dialects  of  Italy  were  derived  from  the  Celtic,  but 
from  the  late  formation  of  the  Latin  the  affinity  is  less  obvious:  yet 
Quintillian  observes,  that  among  the  words  derived  from  other  languages, 
those  from  the  Gallic  were  most  numerous,  and  gives  several  instances. JJ 
The  grammatical  construction  of  the  old  Latin  was  exactly  similar  to  the 
Celtic.  Thus,  pennai,  aulai,  for  pennse,  aulas,  in  the  genitive,  is  exactly 
the  fionnai,  malai,  of  the  Gaelic.  In  like  manner  the  ablative  was 
formed  by  the  addition  of  d:  pucnandod,  preedad,  now  pugnando,  prseda, 
precisely  resembling  the  cogadh,  creachadh,  of  the  Gaelic, §^  in  which  it 
is  to  be  observed  that  the  final  d  is  not  sounded;  and  this  quiescence  in 
the  old  Latin  is  the  apparent  reason  of  its  ultimate  omission. 

If  the  various  languages  which  ancient  authors  speak  of,  were  radical- 
ly difl?erent,  the  number  of  nations  and  of  races  will  be  wonderfully 
increased.  Mithridates,  king  of  Pontus,  is  said  to  have  learned  twenty- 
two  languages,  that  he  might  be  able  to  converse  with  all  his  subjects ; 
and  Timosthenes  says,  that  in  a  town  of  Colchis,  three  hundred  nations, 

Glossarium  Germannicum,  Prefatio,  c.  xxviii. 
f  Ibid.  Lingua  Anglo  Saxonica,  cum  sit  ab  Ingevonibus  orta,  filia  est  Celticae  mari- 
tima  et  primogenita,  natalibus  suis  nec  omnino  similis,  nec  omnino  dissimilis,  c.  xli. 
t  Thesaurus  Ant.  Teutonicum.  §  Monde  primitif,  ix.  41,  51. 

II  Caledonia,  i.  p.  ]  2.  H  Ibid. 

"  "  Clarke,  on  Coins,  p.  77.  The  similarity  of  weights  and  measures  offers  to  this  in- 
telligent writer  an  additional  evidence  of  identic  origin.  A  Mr.  Kuithan  recently 
published  a  work,  to  show  that  not  only  were  the  Greek  and  German  languages  alike, 
but  that  the  people  were  originally  the  same.  Cluverius  thinks  the  German  is  the 
purest  relic  of  the  Celtic. 

tt  On  the  formation  of  language. 

tt  Festus  calls  a  Gallic  chariot,  Petoritum.  Pedwar,  Welch,  is  four,  Rheda,  wheel. 
This  is  noticed  by  Cluver,  Dr.  Murray,  &c.  Caterva,  a  legion ;  Cad,  Gaelic,  an  army , 
Turva,  multitude,  &c. 

§§  Report  on  the  poems  of  Ossian,  Appendix,  p.  263. 


ANCIENT  LANGUAGES. 


33 


each  of  a  different  language,  met  to  traffic;*  but  these  accounts  are  at 
variance  with  the  express  testimony  which  we  find,  of  the  close  affinity  of 
the  languages  anciently  spoken  in  Europe.  We  ought,  in  most  cases, 
to  understand  dialect  only,  an  inference  that  is  justified  by  the  writers 
themselves.  Strabo,  who  gives  the  Alani,  an  inconsiderable  people, 
twenty-six  languages,  tells  us  the  Getse  and  Daci,  both  very  powerful 
nations,  or  rather  the  same  people,  had  but  one  speech ;|  and  represents 
the  Gauls,  whose  three  divisions,  according  to  Caesar,  had  peculiar  and 
distinct  languages,  as  differing  little  from  each  other  in  manners,  and 
still  less  in  speech. J  St.  Jerome  says,  the  Galatians,  who  were  un- 
doubtedly Celts,  besides  the  Greek,  spoke  the  same  language  as  the 
Treviri,  a  people  of,  or  bordering  on,  Belgic-Gaul.§  Herodotus  says 
the  Scythic  nations  resembled  each  other  in  their  manners  generally, 
but  had  particular  dialects,  and  that  the  Sauromatse  used  the  Scythic 
speech. II  If  this  language  had  been  radically  different  from  that  spoken 
in  Western  Europe,  some  traces  of  it  would  certainly  have  remained,  but 
no  specimen  can  be  produced.  The  Gothic  tongue  undoubtedly  sprang 
from  the  Celtic.  Tacitus  informs  us,  that  in  his  time  the  Gothini  spoke 
the  Gallic  language,  and  the  Cimbri  and  ^stii  used  the  British  speech. tT 
That  it  was  Celtic,  is  beyond  dispute.  Reinerus  Reineccius,  an  author 
of  credit,  who  is  quoted  by  Camden,  affirms  that  both  Gauls  and  Cimbri 
used  the  same  speech;**  which,  indeed,  appears  from  those  authors  who 
speak  of  the  people  as  of  the  same  race. 

The  Scythians,  who  were  attacked  by  Darius,  either  spoke  Gothic,  or 
it  cannot  be  admitted  that  either  they  or  their  descendants  ever  came 
into  Europe.  In  this  part  of  the  world  the  Celta3  first  arrived,  and 
supplied  a  language;  then,  in  the  course  of  thousands  of  years,  came 
different  tribes  of  the  same  people,  the  language  of  each  radically  the 
same  as  the  first,  but  from  the  lapse  of  time  somewhat  changed.  "H 

Nations  that  are  favorably  situated  for  commercial  pursuits  suffer  a 
change  in  their  language  sooner  than  those  who  are  inland  and  removed ' 
from  intercourse  with  strangers.  When  manufactures  and  arts  begin  to 
excite  the  attention  of  mankind,  there  arise  new  ideas,  and  a  necessity 
for  new  expressions.  When  the  productions  of  one  country  become 
objects  of  desire  to  the  inhabitants  of  others,  the  wants  which  are  re- 
ciprocally  supplied  by  the  exchange  of  commodities  increase  with  the 
facility  of  gratification;  and  hence,  as  the  arts  of  civil  life  begin  to  be 
encouraged,  new  words  are  required,  and  language  undergoes  a  gradua.' 
and  inevitable  alteration.  Thus  the  speech  of  a  people  who  are  in  a- 
state  of  progressive  improvement  becomes  much  changed  in  process  o/ 

*  As  quoted  in  Lewis's  History  of  Britain,  fol.  1729.  When  Diod.  Sic.  says  of  Han- 
nibal's troops,  that  they  differed  as  much  in  their  humors  as  they  did  in  their  lan- 
guages, are  we  to  understand  him  literally  ? 

t  Lib.  viii.  t  Lib.  iv.  §  Comment,  on  Galatians,  ii. 

II  Lib.  iv.  117,  £>e  moribus  Germanorum. 

**  Camden,  Higgins,  Lewis,  &c.  ft  Higgins's  "  Celtic  Druids,"  p.  65>. 


36 


ANCIENT  LANGUAGES. 


time.  Polybius  writes,  that  the  Latin  was  then  so  different  from  what  it 
had  been  in  the  time  of  Lucius  Junius  Brutus  and  Marcus  Valerius,  who 
were  consuls  when  the  first  treaty  between  the  Romans  and  Carthagini- 
ans was  made,  that  little  of  that  document  could  be  then  understood.^* 
But  when  a  nation,  on  the  contrary,  is  stationary  in  civilisation,  the  lan- 
guage necessarily  remains  the  same. 

The  Romans  were  always  studious  to  introduce  their  language  into 
all  countries  which  were  brought  under  their  dominion  but  they  would 
have  been  less  successful  in  producing  any  change  among  the  Gauls, 
had  they  not  been  able,  at  the  same  time,  to  establish  a  considerable 
commercial  intercourse.  These  nations  found  a  stimulus  to  their  natu- 
ral ingenuity,  and  a  gratification  to  their  avarice,  of  which  they  are 
said  to  have  had  a  good  share,  by  the  advantages  of  a  friendly  inter- 
course and  profitable  trade  with  the  luxurious  Romans;  and  their  par- 
tiality to  the  wines  of  Italy  had,  no  doubt,  a  tendency  to  soften  their 
ctid-racteristic  dislike  to  innovation. 

It  is  equally  customary,  even  in  these  days,  to  call  peculiar  dialects 
by  the  name  of  languages,  as  it  is  to  generalize  various  dialects  under 
one  denomination.  The  Gaelic  of  Scotland,  the  Welch,  the  Irish,  and 
the  Manx,  are  considerably  different  from  each  other,  and  yet  they  are 
but  dialects  of  the  same  speech,  and  the  term  Briton  is  common  to  the 
whole  inhabitants  of  the  island;  yet  the  English,  the  Scots,  and  the 
Welch  are  distinct  people,  and  they  all  use  the  English  language,  (ex- 
cept in  the  Gaelic  parts;)  but  the  dialects  are,  in  some  cases,  so  differ- 
ent, that  they  scarcely  appear  the  same,  and  are,  indeed,  sometimes  cal- 
led different  languages. J 

The  Yorkshire,  and  the  west  country  dialects,  have  no  great  resem- 
blance to  that  of  Middlesex;  nor  is  the  speech  of  the  people  in  the  north 
like  that  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  provinces  of  Scotland. 

Thus  do  we  find  a  primaeval  race,  arriving  in  Europe  at  some  unknown 
and  remote  period,  and  filling  with  inhabitants  a  vast  extent  of  territory 
Different  divisions  of  these  aborigines  acquired  distinct  names  with  ap- 
propriate possessions,  and,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  became  dissimilar  in 
manners,  in  colloquial  idiom,  and  pronunciation.  A  due  consideration 
of  these  apparently  natural  and  certain  effects  of  separation,  may  prevent 
much  unsatisfactory  argument,  that  bewilders  and  perplexes  the  mind,  in 
the  vain  attempt  to  find  distinct  and  various  races  of  men,  where  all  must 
have  had  a  common  origin.  The  Barbarians  appeared  to  the  early 
Greeks  and  Romans,  who  knew  little  of  them,  under  different  lights,  and 

*Lib.  iii. 

t  "  So  sensible  were  the  Romans  of  the  influence  of  language  over  national  man- 
ners, that  it  was  their  most  serious  care  to  extend,  with  the  progress  of  their  arms,  the 
use  of  the  Latin  tongue."  Gibbon. 

f  The  Scotch  is  not  to  be  considered  a  provincial  dialect, — it  is  the  language  of  a 
whole  country, — the  common  speech  of  the  whole  nation  in  early  life."  Edinburgh 
Review,  vol,  xiii.  p.  259. 


FEROCITY  OF  THE  CIMBRIANS.  37 


were  viewed  as  consisting  of  many  nations:  when  they  came  under  more 
particular  observation  in  later  times,  there  had  arisen  differences  suffi- 
cient to  justify  a  national  appellation. 

There  is,  it  must  be  confessed,  a  gloom  around  the  early  history  of 
the  Celts,  which  neither  the  writings  of  antiquity,  nor  the  deepest  inves- 
tigations of  modern  ages,  are  able  entirely  to  penetrate. 

The  faint  light  by  which  the  Hyperborei,  the  Cimbri,  the  Scythae,  and 
the  Celtae  are  presented  to  our  view,  is  clouded  by  fable,  and  obscured 
by  the  conjectures  of  credulity.  The  polished  Greeks  and  Romans  des- 
pised and  contemned  all  who  were  without  the  pale  of  their  own  domin- 
ion. It  was  only  when  they  wished  to  subjugate  those  barbarians,  or 
were  exposed  to  their  furious  inroads,  that  they  deigned  to  notice  them. 
Then,  the  savage  manners,  and  strange  appearance  of  these  nations 
made  a  strong,  and  perhaps  unjust,  impression  on  those  who  were  more 
civilized.*  The  desperate  exploits  of  the  enemy  were  related  by  those 
who  witnessed  them,  with  all  the  exaggeration  which  fear  could  suggest; 
and  the  wonderful  recitals  were,  it  may  be  safely  presumed,  often  height- 
ened by  a  desire  to  exalt  the  bravery  and  resolution  of  soldiers  who  had 
ventured  to  contend  with  such  terrific  assailants.  The  tremendous  ar- 
mies of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  filled  the  Romans  with  the  utmost  ter- 
ror and  dismay,  and  people  from  whom  they  had  so  narrowly  escaped 
utter  destruction,  were  represented  as  almost  supernatural.  "  No  man," 
says  Plutarch,  ''knew  what  they  were,  or  from  whence  they  came. 


They  were  of  immense  stature,  with  horrid  countenances,  speaking  a 
language  scarcely  human.  They  advanced  with  a  host  that  trod  down, 
or  swept  all  before  them,  and  their  bowlings  and  horrid  bellowings  were 
like  those  of  wild  beasts,  "f  Sach  expressions  betray  the  trepidation  of 
the  Romans,  increased  by  the  boldness  of  an  enemy,  that,  passing  the 
Alps  as  if  by  miracle,  presented  themselves  in  the  plains  of  Italy,  and, 
marching  towards  Rome,  threatened  the  speedy  destruction  of  the  em- 
pire. Yet  it  must  be  confessed,  that  there  was  abundant  cause  for  ter- 
ror, after  making  allowance  for  considerable  overcharge  in  the  picture. 
The  Cimbrians,  it  is  further  said  by  Plutarch,  like  the  giants  of  old, 

*When  the  first  alarm  had  subsided,  their  numerous  hosts  were  oflen  defeated  by 
very  inferior  numbers.  Their  great  strength,  and  native  valor  gave  way  to  the  strict 
discipline  and  military  tact  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

t  Plutarch,  of  the  Cimbrian  war.    Polysenus.  Mil.  Strat.  viii.  10. 


38 


FEROCITY  OF  THE  CIMBRTANS. 


tore  up  hills  and  massy  rocks,  and  pulled  up  trees  by  the  roots,  to  fill  a 
river  which  they  had  to  pass.  Their  women,  too,  who  would  rush  into 
the  thickest  battle,  and  with  their  naked  arms  pull  away  the  shields  of 
the  enemy,  cutting  them  down  with  a  sword  or  battle-axe,  were  not  the 
least  frightful  part  in  the  scene.  Before  such  opponents,  it  is  little  cause 
of  wonder  that  the  Roman  soldiers  should  not  evince  their  accustomed 
bravery.  It  was  with  difficulty  any  man  could  be  kept  to  his  duty,  and, 
as  the  panic  increased,  they  began  to  desert  their  colors,  and  at  last  gave 
way  in  precipitate  retreat. 


t 


CHAPTER  II. 


BRITAIN— THE  ORIGIN  OF  ITS  ANCIENT  INHABITANTS 
HISTORICALLY  DEDUCED. 

Various  suppositions  have  been  formed  respecting  the  period  when 
Britain  first  became  the  residence  of  human  beings.  The  fact  cannot 
be  ascertained,  and  it  is  not  important  to  be  known.  That  this  island 
remained  for  many  ages  unoccupied  by  mankind,  and  perhaps  undiscov- 
ered, while  other  parts  of  the  world  were  teeming  with  population,  is  a 
reasonable  belief.  Tradition  itself  seems  unable  to  reach  a  period  so 
remote,  yet  it  is  alluded  to  in  the  works  of  the  Welsh  bards. 

The  Phoenicians,  who  were  celebrated  as  maritime  adventurers,  are 
supposed  to  have  been  the  discoverers  of  Britain,  and  to  have  traded 
hither  in  the  most  early  ages.  It  may  not  have  been  impossible  for  these 
people  to  establish  a  commercial  intercourse  with  Britain  "perhaps  a 
thousand  years  before  our  era,"*  but  there  appears  to  be  no  sufficient 
proof  of  the  existence  of  so  early  a  communication;  and  the  Cassiterides, 
or  Isles  of  Tin,  for  which  metal  they  are  said  to  have  chiefly  resorted, 
seem  erroneously  to  be  considered  the  Scillies  off  the  Cornish  coast. 
"No  one  writer  of  any  Antiquity,"  says  Ritson,  "ever  mentions  that 
the  Phoenicians  traded  to  Cornwall  for  Tin."  It  is  maintained,  that  they 
were  well  acquainted  with  Britain;  but  it  is  also  confessed,  that  subse- 
quent Historians  and  Geographers  appear  ignorant  of  this  ancient  cor- 
respondence. Dio  says,  the  early  Greeks  and  Romans  did  not  so  much 
as  know  there  was  such  an  island,     and  to  account  for  these  inconsis- 

*  Wliittaker,  Pinkerton,  &c.  M'Pherson  and  others  suppose  an  earlier  colonization. 
Carte  fixes  it  450,  A.  C. 

t  Aristotle,  who  flourished  350  years  before  Christ,  speaks  of  it  both  as  Albium  and 
Brettania. — Buchannan,  &c. 


40 


BRITAIN. 


tencies,  it  has  been  ingeniously  conjectured  that  the  trade  was  given  up, 
and  the  way  to  the  island  lost  for  a  considerable  time. 

It  has  been  asserted,  that,  at  the  period  of  this  supposed  intercourse, 
no  part  of  the  world  produced  Tin  but  the  islands  of  Britain.  Pliny 
mentions  this  metal  as  plentiful  in  Lusitania  and  Gallicla.  Diodorus  and 
Possidonius  say  that  much  tin  was  found  in  different  parts  of  Spain;  and 
Aristotle  calls  it  Celtic,  as  a  distinction  from  that  of  India.  It  was  pro- 
cured in  great  quantities  from  the  islands  which  Pliny  describes  as  lying 
in  the  ocean  over  against  Celtiberia,  and  which  from  this  production  re- 
ceived the  name  Cassitendes.  Ptolemy  places  them  und€r  "  the  situa- 
tion of  Tarraconia;  "  and  Mela*  says  the  islands,  which  for  abundance 
of  lead  were  so  called,  lay  in  the  parts  of  the  Celtici,  a.people  of  Spain. 
Strabo  also  places  them  opposite  to  Celtiberia.  They  appear  to  have 
been  the  Azores  or  Western  Islands,  anciently  the  Hesperides,  a  term 
descriptive  of  their  geographical  situation;  for  that  the  Scillies  were  the 
isles  of  Tin,  certainly  appears  doubtful.  These  islands  are  in  number 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  forty,  but  of  the  others  there  are  but  nine 
or  ten.  The  expression  of  Strabo,  who  says,  in  his  second  book,  that 
Britain  and  these  islands  are  without  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  does  not 
prove  nor  imply  that  they  were  near  to  each  other. |  They  are,  on  the 
contrary,  mentioned  as  perfectly  distinct;  J  and  the  opinion  of  the  single 
insula  Silura  of  Solinus,§  being  the  Cassiterides  of  the  ancients,  perhaps 
originated  with  Richard  of  Cirencester,  who  applies  the  appellation  to 
the  Scillies. II  A  recent  visitor  says  he  ''could  discover  no  traces  of 
mines  or  minerals,  whether  ancient  or  modern,  in  them."  If  The  historian 
of  Cornwall  confesses  that  the  ancient  workings  which  he  believes  he 
discovered,  were  "neither  deep,  nor  many,  nor  large,"  and  adopts  the 
supposition  of  Ortellius,  that  the  Cassiterides  must  have  included  Corn- 
wall and  Devonshire. 

Mictis  is  supposed  to  be  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  lead  was  also  pro- 
cured; but  Pliny  informs  us,  on  the  authority  of  Timaeus,  that  it  lay  six 
days'  sail  from  Britain.**  Mictis  was  not  therefore  thelctis  of  Diodorus, 
which  lay  so  near  to  the  English  coast  that  it  could,  at  low  tide,  be  ap- 
proached by  land.  Hither,  therefore,  he  says  the  Britons  conveyed 
the  tin  which  they  dug,  from  whence  it  was  transported  to  Gaul.|| 

It  appears,  then,  that  Herodotus  does  not  call  these  islands  Cassiter- 
ides; but  it  is  certain  that  Britain  was  known  to  both  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, some  ages  before  it  became  an  object  of  conquest  to  the  latter 
people,  and  it  may  have  been  visited  by  adventurers  in  much  more  ancient 
times.  J  J    Little,  however,  can  be  elicited  concerning  the  earliest  history 

*  Lib.  iii.  c.  6.  t  Lib  ii.  p.  129.  t  Pliny,  Diod.  &c.  §  C.  22. 

II  He  calls  them  Sygdiles.    Borlase  says  the  proper  name  is  Sylleh. 

IT  Cambell,  in  his  ed.  of  Ossian.  Lib.  iv.  16.  tt  Lib.  v.  2. 

t+The  autlior  of  Argonautica,  who  lived,  it  is  believed,  in  the  time  of  Pisistratus, 
about  570,  A.  C.  speaks  of  Britain,  or  perhaps  Ireland,  under  the  name  lernis.  From 
Plutarch,  de  defect,  orac.  the  Elysium  of  the  ancients  appears  to  have  been  in  the  north- 
tn  part  of  the  island.     Homer  says,  Uly.sses,  in  his  passage  to  the  shades,  touched 


ITS  DISCOVERY. 


41 


of  European  nations,  from  the  dark  and  mysterious  intimations  of  anti- 
quity, the  faint  light  of  which  is  unable  to  guide  us  clearly  through  the 
wild  dreams  and  fictions  of  ignorance,  and  credulity.  If  an  enterprising 
navigator,  at  some  distant  period,  had  caught  a  sight  of  Britain  or  Ire- 
land, the  Orkneys,  or  the  Shetland  isles;  the  obscure  and  marvellous  re- 
citals of  poets,  and  the  inexplicable  narrations  and  allegories  of  theology, 
would  be  conceived  to  have  some  allusion  to  the  newly  found,  or  long 
lost  land;  and  the  ingenuity  of  succeeding  ages,  when  farther  discove- 
ries were  made,  readily  applies  the  ambiguous  descriptions  of  antiquity 
to  places  of  which  but  an  imperfect  knowledge  has  been  obtained.  The 
conflicting  and  indefinite  accounts  are,  consequently,  reconciled  and  ap- 
plied, as  credulity  or  caprice  may  suggest. 

The  description  of  that  island,  which  the  Hyperborei  are  said  to  have 
inhabited,  can  suit  no  other  than  Britain.  The  island  lay  opposite  to 
Gaul,  and  was  as  large  as  Sicily.  The  people  used  their  own  proper 
language,  worshipped  in  groves  and  circular  temples,  played  on  the 
harp,  and  led  the  most  happy  lives.  They  had  a  great  esteem  for  the 
Greeks,  with  whom,  from  the  most  distant  ages,  they  had  maintained  a 
correspondence  arising  from  certain  religious  connexions,  in  consequence 
of  which,  it  is  s'aid,  some  of  that  nation  visited  this  sequestered  land, 
leaving  many  presents  to  the  gods,  and  Greek  inscriptions  to  commem- 
orate their  mission.* 

Pytheas  of  Massilia,  who  lived  before  Aristotle,  is  said  to  have  first 
discovered  Britain,  and  Thule  or  Thyle,  concerning  which  there  is  much 
uncertainty.  This  island  is  represented  as  some  days'  sail  northwards 
from  Britain,  and  should  hence  appear  to  be  Shetland. "f  Agricola's  fleet, 
we  are  told,  saw  Thule  as  they  circumnavigated  the  island, J  Mela  de- 
scribes it  as  opposite  to  the  Belgian  coast,  a  position  in  which  Richard 
of  Cirencester  agrees,  but  strangely  adds,  that  it  lay  beyond  the  Ork- 
neys. Alfred,  in  his  Saxon  version  of  Orosius,  says  it  lay  northwest  of 
Ireland,  and  was  known  by  few.  That  island  has  itself  been  taken  for 
Thule,  and  the  term  has  been  applied  to  the  Western  Islands  of  Scot- 
land. Some  have  also  contended  that  the  name  was  given  to  the  northern 
parts  of  that  country.  ^    That  Thule,  in  any  of  these  situations,  could 


at  Caledonia,  to  which  Tacitus,  in  Germania,  alludes. — Pinkerton.  Solinus  says  that 
an  altar,  inscribed  with  Greek  characters,  was  to  be  seen  in  the  north,  which  proved 
this,  c.  22.  The  second  Brennus,  who  led  the  Gauls  into  Greece,  when  Delphos  was 
rifled,  is  thought  by  some  writers  to  have  been  a  Briton ;  and  Lemon,  in  the  preface  to 
his  English  etymology,  p.  xxiii.  §  5,  seriously  relates  this  as  the  cause  of  tlie  ultimate 
invasion  of  this  island.  Joseph  de  Gorionides,  "  de  Hannibale,"  says  that  general  con- 
quered the  Britons,  iii.  15,  ap.  Higgins,  p.  80.  But  there  were  nations  so  called  on  the 
Continent. 

*  Diodorus,  who  relates  this  from  Hecataeus,  a  very  ancient  author,  whose  veracity, 
it  must  be  observed,  he  seems  to  doubt. 

t  So  d'  Anville  understands  it.  Strabo  calls  it  six  days'  sail  from  Britain  ;  Solinus  five 
days  and  nights  from  Orkney.  t  Vita  Agricolae. 

§  Essay  concernmg  the  Thule  of  the  ancients,  Edinburgh,  1693. 


42 


BRITAIN. 


have  been  "large  and  copious  in  continual  apples,"  as  Solinus  repre- 
sents, is  incredible.  Saxo  calls  Iceland,  Thylen,  while  Procopius  ap- 
plies the  term  Thule  to  Scandinavia.*  Perhaps  the  name  was  given  to 
the  land  which  was  believed  the  farthest  towards  the  north,  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  islands  successively  discovered.  It  has  been,  indeed, 
conjectured  that  there  were  formerly  some  isles  between  the  continent 
and  Scotland  that  have  been  long  since  lost.  The  Saxonum  Insulae  of 
Pliny  are  believed  to  have  disappeared,  in  consequence  of  some  natural 
convulsion,  and  the  fact  of  Heligoland  having  been  several  ages  ago  re- 
duced to  half  its  size,  is  adduced  in  support  of  this  hypothesis. "f  The 
Welsh  poems  record  the  formation  of  Anglesea  and  many  other  islands 
by  a  dreadful  inundation,  and  the  island  Plada,  which  seems  at  no  dis- 
tant period  to  have  been  disjoined  from  Arran,  carries  in  its  name  a 
proof  of  this  disruption.    Bladh,  is  a  part,  and  Bladham,  I  break. 

The  singular  phenomena  produced  by  the  refraction  and  reflection  of 
light  on  fogs  arising  from  the  sea,  lakes,  or  morasses,  are  well  known. 
Appearances  of  this  kind  have  deceived  experienced  navigators,  who 
confidently  believed  they  saw  islands  in  the  distant  ocean,  and  it  is  by 
no  means  improbable  that  ancient  mariners  may  have  had  their  senses 
so  imposed  on.  The  illusion  is  sometimes  so  complete  that  you  may 
behold,  with  the  most  perfect  resemblance  to  nature,  picturesque  land- 
scapes, towns,  castles,  &c.,  and  that  some  such  appearance  gave  rise  to 
the  idea  of  a  happy  and  fruitful  country,  the  abode  of  the  blessed,  can 
scarcely  be  doubted.  This  "fairy  land"  was  situated  in  the  western 
ocean,  and  was  familiar  to  the  inhabitants  of  these  islands,  being  denom- 
inated Flathinis  and  Hybrasil  by  the  Scots  and  Irish.  J  One  of  these 
phenomena  was  seen,  it  is  said,  in  the  Atlantic,  in  the  ninth  century; 
and  so  convinced  were  seamen  of  the  existence  of  one  or  more  fertile 
and  romantic  islands,  remote  from  all  other  land,  that  they  have  actually, 
it  appears,  been  placed  on  maps.§ 

Had  so  singular  an  appearance  been  noticed  in  ancient  times,  it  might, 
in  some  degree,  account  for  the  wonderful  stories  concerning  the  British 
islands,  and  the  confusion  respecting  the  Thule  of  antiquity. 

At  what  period  Britain  became  inhabited,  and  from  what  particular 
district  of  the  continent  the  first  colonists  arrived,  are  equally  unknown 
and  open  to  conjecture.  While  some  writers  believe  it  probable  that  the 
first  inhabitants  arrived  a  thousand  years  before  Christ,  others  suppose 
a  much  earlier  migration  hither.     Parties  from  the  coast  of  Gaul  may 

*  Pinkerton's  Enquiry,  i.  t  Ibid.  i.  204. 

t  The  Saxon  Cockaigne  seems  to  have  been  the  same  island  which  was  also  known 
to  the  French  and  Spaniards  by  other  names.  See  "  the  Western  Wonder,  or  O'Brazeel, 
an  Enchanted  Island,"  4to.  1C74. 

§  This  singular  effect  of  mirage  on  the  sands  of  the  coasts  in  the  western  isles  is  no- 
ticed in  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal  for  Dec.  1827.  The  Highlanders  call  it 
Dun  na  feadhredgh,  fairy  castles.  Some  remarkable  appearances  of  this  kind  were 
Been  near  Youghal,  in  Ireland,  in  1796,  1797,  1801,  &c. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  INHABITANTS. 


43 


have  occasionally  visited  the  island  for  the  purpose  of  hunting,  before 
permanent  settlements  were  formed;  and,  even  after  colonies  had  estab- 
lished themselves,  a  long  time  must  have  been  required  to  people  the 
whole  island. 

Brettania  is  first  mentioned  by  Aristotle,  and  Brittia  is  the  term  gen- 
erally used  by  the  ancients.  It  appears  to  be  the  second  name,  and  is 
derived  by  Whittaker  from  the  Welsh,  Brython,  divided;  the  Gaelic 
Breac,  striped  or  chequered,  Brezonec,  the  appellation  of  Armorica, 
the  name  Brigantes,  AUo-Broges,  &c.,  being  all  related.  Mac  Pherson 
derives  the  name  from  Braid,  extensive.  In,  land,  Clarke  from  Braitoin, 
top  of  the  waves;  and  the  etymology  of  another  writer  is  equally  simple, 
but  less  probable:  Stackhouse  gives  Bre,  a  hill.  Ton,  a  dwelling;  Bre- 
theim,  in  ancient  Celtic  and  German,  is  said,  by  Wolfgang,  to  signify  a 
residence;  but  Borlase  asserts  that  no  British  word  begins  with  B  as  a 
radical. 

The  Britons,  like  the  continental  Celts,  were  ignorant  of  their  origin, 
and  believed  themselves  indigenous,  a  proof  that  they  could  not  have 
recently  arrived.  Diodorus  considered  them  as  natives  of  the  soil;  but 
Tacitus,  more  correct,  was  of  opinion  that  the  first  inhabitants  came 
from  the  opposite  coasts  of  the  Continent.  Caesar  represents  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  maritime  parts  as  adventurers  from  Gaul,  and  those  of  the 
interior  only  as  aborigines,  according  to  their  own  tradition.  The  Cum- 
ri,  whom  the  Welsh  Triads  make  the  first  colonists,  are  otherwise  be- 
lieved to  have  been  the  second,  and  of  a  different  race.  That  they  were 
not,  may  appear  from  what  has  already  been  said;*  and  whether  they 
proceeded  from  Aquitain,  as  some  conjecture,  from  Tacitus, "f  or  from 
Belgic  Gaul,  the  only  essential  difference  between  these  nations  and  the 
Celts  consisted  in  name  and  local  position.  The  aboriginal  inhabitants 
of  Britain  must  have  been  Celtic,  for  that  race  anciently  possessed  the 
whole  of  continental  Europe.  These  Cumri  could  not  have  been  a  very 
large  colony,  or  have  occupied  much  greater  extent  of  territory  than 
Wales,  for  the  appellation  was  not  applied  to  other  Britons.  Accord- 
ing to  the  best  Welsh  Antiquaries,  they  came  in  on  the  Guydhel,  as 
they  term  the  primitive  inhabitants,  whose  name  proves  their  derivation 
from  the  great  race  who  peopled  the  western  world.  The  period  when 
the  Cumri  arrived  is  unknown.  If  the  term  was  "the  hereditary  name  of 
the  Gauls,"  and  "the  common  appellation  of  all  the  tribes  of  Britain," 
it  is  in  vain  to  look  for  a  colony  bearing  it  as  a  proper  and  peculiar 
name.  When  the  island  was  gradually  filling  with  inhabitants  from  the 
redundant  population  of  Gaul,  various  successive  arrivals  undoubtedly 

*"  No  Cimbri  ever  landed  here,  except  Gauls,  so  called.  Those  who  broke « into 
Greece  appear  to  have  been  called  Galli,  Celtae,  Cimmerii,  and  Cimbri." — Gen.  Hist, 
of  the  Britons,  p.  47.  "  No  one  has  any  right  to  it  (Britain)  but  the  Cumri,  for  they 
first  took  possession, and  before  that  time  there  were  no  persons  living  in  it." — Ancient 
Welsh  Laws.    Hu  Cadarn  brought  hither  the  first  Cumri. 

t  Who  perceived  a  likeness  between  the  Silures  and  Iberians. 

I 


44  CELTIC  AND  BELGIC  BRITONS. 

took  place.  The  Triads  mention  the  Lloegrwys,  who  came  from 
Gwasgwn  or  Gascony,  as  the  next  settlers,  from  whom  the  Welsh  de- 
nominate the  English  Lloegr;  but  in  less  doubtful  history,  the  Belgae 
appear  to  have  succeeded  the  Cumri,  who  had  been  so  long  in  the  isl- 
and that  they  were  considered,  as  they  have  styled  themselves,  the  an- 
cient Britons. 

The  Belgians  are  said  to  have  arrived  here  three  centuries  and  a  half 
before  the  epoch  of  Christianity,  and  that  about  this  period  there  existed 
a  connexion  between  the  two  countries,  is  very  probable.  Divitiacus, 
king  of  the  Suessiones,  a  Belgic  tribe,  who  was  alive  in  Caesar's  time, 
had  a  certain  sovereignty  in  Britain,*  which  he  visited,  enlarging  his 
dominions  by  the  subjection  of  great  part  of  the  southern  districts  of 
England. 

When  Julius  CiBsar  meditated  his  descent,  there  subsisted  a  consider- 
able intercourse  between  Britain  and  the  continent,  by  means  of  which 
he  sought  information  respecting  the  country  and  its  inhabitants;  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  obtained  very  accurate  knowledge  of  either. 
The  merchants  who  traded  with  the  natives  were  the  parties  to  whom  he 
chiefly  addressed  himself;  but  their  personal  knowledge  of  the  island  did 
not,  probably,  extend  to  any  considerable  distance  from  the  ports  to 
which  they  resorted,  and  the  natives,  we  may  believe,  were  not  disposed 
to  be  very  communicative. 

When  the  Romans  landed  in  Britain  they  found  the  maritime  parts  on 
the  south  possessed  by  the  Belga3,  who  were  neither  a  race  distinct  from 
the  Celtre,  nor  did  they  speak  a  language  "  altogether  different."  A 
better  climate,  and  a  degree  of  commercial  intercourse,  produced  a  me- 
lioration of  condition;  but  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  these  ad- 
vantages had  very  materially  increased  the  difference  between  the 
southern  and  inland  tribes  at  the  period  now  under  review,  Diodorus 
simply  remarks  that  those  who  inhabited  the  promontory  of  Balerium, 
(Cornwall,)  were  more  civilized  and  courteous  to  strangers  than  the  rest 
of  the  population,  by  reason  of  their  intercourse  with  foreign  merchants. 
The  Britons,  like  the  Gauls  their  progenitors,  bore  a  general  resemblance 
in  language,  religion,  manners,  and  customs,  the  strong  and  indubitable 
proofs  of  a  common  origin.  The  local  appellations  throughout  the  ter- 
ritories which  they  inhabited  decidedly  evince  that  "the  British  Belgae 
were  of  Celtic  lineage."  A  Gothic  colonization  is,  nevertheless,  said  to 
have  taken  place  when  the  Belgce  established  themselves  on  this  side  the 
channel. I  It  has  been  shown  that  this  people  were  but  a  division  of  the 
Gauls,  and  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  nations  of  Getia.  Three 
hundred  and  thirty-four  years  before  our  era,  the  Scyths  were  not  in 
western  Europe,  but  remained  on  the  shores  of  the  Euxine,  and  the 
Gothic  migrations  from  the  east  began  about  two  hundred  years  after- 
wards. The  Goths  first  came  into  notice  as  a  fierce  and  powerful  peo- 
ple in  A.  D.  250,  before  which  time  they  were  little  known  to  the  Ro- 
*  Bello  Gal.  ii.  c.  4.  t  Pinkerton. 


THE  BELGIANS  NOT  GOTHS. 


45 


mans,  and  their  empire  on  the  Danube  was  not  formed  until  A.  D.  328. 
Previous  to  the  descent  of  Caesar,  these  nations  were  still  about  the 
Euxine,  at  which  time  Britain  had  been  fully  peopled  by  the  Celtie; 
and  the  silence  of  history  attests  that  no  important  migration  of  the 
Goths  had  hitherto  taken  place. 

It  becomes,  therefore,  certain  that  the  first  inhabitants  of  Britain  were 
alike  Celts,  resembling  those  on  the  opposite  coasts  of  Gaul,  for,  on  the 
arrival  of  the  Romans,  the  language,  the  religion,  and  customs  of  both 
countries  were  similar.*  Had  there,  on  the  contrary,  arrived  a  people, 
different  in  their  manners,  and  so  entirely  distinct  from  the  Celts,  that 
**no  tongues  could  be  more  diflferent,"  some  remains  of  that  tongue 
would  surely  have  existed  to  prove  the  event.  The  prevalence  of  their 
language  seems  to  demonstrate  that  the  Goths  at  some  time  came  into  the 
north  and  west  of  Europe;  but  had  they  moved  in  a  considerable  body, 
or  settled  otherwise  than  by  a  quiet  and  amicable  migration,  some  authen- 
tic memorial  of  the  circumstance  must  have  remained.  The  Gothic 
tribes  do  not  appear  to  have  left  their  native  seats  earlier  than  perhaps  a 
century  before  the  time  of  Caesar,  when  Britain  was  stored  with  a  Celtic 
population.  At  this  time,  the  aboriginal  race  of  Gauls  were  fast  yield- 
ing to  the  impressions  of  civilisation — ^alterations  in  their  language  had 
taken  place — the  unmixed  Celts  were  gradually  confined  to  the  west  of 
Europe,  and  those  to  the  eastward  were  becoming  Gothicised. 

The  Triads  bring  several  other  colonies  hither  at  different  times— the 
Brython  from  Lhydaw  or  Bretagne  being  the  next  in  order  of  time  to 
the  Lloegrwys,  and  both  were  of  Cumraeg  origin.  It  is  impossible  to 
ascertain  the  periods  when  these  tribes  established  themselves  in  Britain, 
but  it  is  certain  that  the  various  Colonists  were  all  equally  Celtic  and 
similar  to  the  natives  of  Gaul.  Such  were  the  inhabitants  whom  Coesar 
found  fifty-five  years  before  the  epoch  of  Christianity,  and  the  population 
was  still  Celtic  when  the  Romans  finally  left  the  island  five  hundred 
years  afterwards. | 

The  Belgse,  who  possessed  the  whole  south  coast  of  England  from  Kent 
to  Cornwall,  resembled  the  inhabitants  of  the  continent  more  strongly 
than  those  tribes  who  lived  in  the  interior,  and  who  were  thought  by  them- 
selves, and  believed  by  others,  to  have  been  e  terra  nati,  or  indigenous. 

Every  succeeding  colony  obtaining  a  peaceable  settlement,  or,  estab- 
lishing itself  by  force  of  arms,  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  those  parts 
where  it  first  landed;  and  the  former  inhabitants  falHng  back,  became 
confined  to  the  interior.  The  most  ancient  residents  of  Britain  were  thus 
gradually  forced  to  the  west  and  north  by  successive  arrivals  from  Gaul, 
and  finally  rested  in  Scotland,  in  Ireland,  and  in  the  mountainous  regions 
of  Wales. 

When  the  Romans  penetrated  northwards  to  Scotland,  they  found 
*  Caesar,  Tacitus,  &c. 

t At  the  Roman  abdication  in  446,  there  was  only  one  race  of  men  in  Scotland.'  — 
Caledonia 


46 


ETYMOLOGY  OF  CALEDONIA. 


the  people  of  the  same  Celtic  race  as  those  of  the  south,  but  much  more 
rude  and  uncivilized,  being,  in  every  probability,  the  remains  of  the  ab- 
origines, who  were  forced  northwards  by  successive  arrivals  from  the 
Continent.  It  is  a  strong  proof  in  favor  of  this  hypothesis,  that  the  an- 
cient Scots  always  retained  the  name  of  Albanich,  inhabitants  of  Alban, 
or  Albion,  the  first  appellation  by  which  Britain  was  known,  and  that 
their  descendants,  the  present  Highlanders,  invariably  continue  its  use. 
Another  argument  of  some  weight  is  found  in  the  fact  that  there  exist  in 
AVales  certain  words,  used  not  only  as  local  names  but  in  common  dis- 
course, which  are  only  referable  to  the  Gaelic  of  Scotland;  and  a  cur- 
rent tradition  is  also  found  among  the  Welsh,  that  the  Scots  or  Irish  an- 
'ciently  inhabited  their  country.  The  Welsh  call  both  these  people 
Guydhel,  or  Guidhil,  the  appellation  by  which  they  distinguish  the  abo- 
rif^inal  inhabitants  to  whom  the  Cumri  succeeded;  and  this  word,  the  dh 
being  quiescent,  is  evidently  the  same  as  Gael,  the  term  by  which  the 
native  Scots  have  been  always  known,  and  which  is  certainly  derived 
from  the  ancient  general  name  of  the  whole  Celtic  race.* 

It  was  not  until  the  successful  campaign  of  Agricola  that  the  Romans 
discovered  the  Scottish  tribes,  or  obtained  a  knowledge  of  their  country. 
The  Imperial  troops  advanced  sufficiently  far  to  arouse  the  natives  to  a 
sense  of  their  danger — to  a  general  confederation — to  a  sanguinary  and 
protracted,  but  successful,  struggle  for  their  independence. 

The  most  powerful  tribe  at  that  time,  in  the  northern  division  of  the 
island,  was  the  Caledonian,  which  had  the  leading  of  the  war,  and, 
according  to  the  accustomed  polity  of  the  Celts,  gave  name  to  the  whole 
association.  Lucan|  is  the  first  who  mentions  this  people,  whom  he 
places  in  Kent.  Tacitus,  the  elegant  historian  of  Agricola's  life,  is  the 
first  who  shows  the  situation  of  the  Caledonians  of  Scotland.  If  the 
etymon  which  identifies  this  word  with  Guydhel  or  Gael,  is  just,  the 
name  may  possibly  have  been  applied  to  different  tribes;  but  Lucan  is 
believed  to  be  in  error,  and  has  apparently  misled  Richard  of  Cirencester, 
who  places  Caledonian  woods  in  Kent  and  Lincolnshire. 

Mr.  Whittaker,  adducing  Florus,  who  also  speaks  of  the  Caledonian 
woods  in  Kent,  Sussex,  &c.,  says,  from  Guidhil,  a  wood,  came  Gaeldoch, 
woodlandish,  applied  to  those  who  inhabit  "  the  precincts  of  an  extensive 
forest,"  a  term  of  which  the  Romans  made  Caledonia.  This  is  ingeni 
ous,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  "  Caledon"  hence  "  became  the  nation 
al  appellation  for  all  woods  of  the  Galli  in  Britain.  "J  Buchannan's 
etymology  is  Calden,  Gaelic,  a  hazel  tree,  and  hence  the  name  of  the 
wood  from  which  the  country  was  called  Caledonia;  but  this  great  author 

*  The  Welsh  do  not  denominate  either  nation  Cumri.  The  Irish  language  is  less 
similar  to  ancient  or  modern  Welsh  than  it  is  to  the  Gaelic  of  Scotland. — Dr.  M'Pher- 
son.  The  Irish,  however,  from  Vallancey,  Coll.  Reb.  x.  lib.  iv.,  seem  not  inclined  to 
admit  that  they  are  Gauls.  f  Pharsalia,  iii.  v.  67-8. 

t  Hist.  Manch.  415,  Hist,  of  the  Britons,  and  authorities.    Another  Antiquary  of^ 
some  celebrity  maintains  that  no  region  was  called  Caledonia  but  the  northern. — Pi»ik- 
erton. 


GAEL  ALBANICH  AND  SIRINACH. 


47 


IS  corrected  by  Dr.  M'Pherson,  who  observes  that  Caultin,  and  not 
Calden,  is  a  hazel. 

The  Highlanders  have  always  been  known  as  Gael,  and  their  native 
country  they  have  always  termed  Gaeldoch,  the  land  of  the  Gael.*  The 
G  has  usually  the  sound  of  C,  which  brings  it  nearer  to  the  primitive 
Celt,  from  which  it  is  unquestionably  derived;  and  whether  it  signifies 
the  fair  men,|  the  hardy  or  strong  men, J  the  borderers,^  the  men  of  the 
woods,!}  the  fugitives, IT  the  hill-dwellers,  &cc.  &c.  &c.  there  appears  no 
room  to  doubt  that  the  Celtic  Gael  was  the  root  of  the  Latin  Caledonii. 

The  Caledonians  who  led  the  united  Gael  to  battle  at  the  Grampians, 
possessed  a  great  extent  of  territory.  It  comprised  all  the  country  from 
the  friths  of  Forth  and  Clyde  to  the  hills  of  Balnagowan  in  Ross. 

This  powerful  nation  continued  to  inhabit  the  same  province;**  but 
other  tribes  came  afterwards  into  notice,  and,  from  the  honor  of  conduct- 
ing different  campaigns,  alternately  appear  in  the  annals  of  their  country, 
and  engross  the  praise  that  various  clans  were  entitled  to  share.  The 
CaledoxiAxVS,  the  Picts,  the  Scots,  and  the  Meats  successively  stood 
forth  to  contend  for  their  national  liberty,  or  conduct  inroads  on  the  ter- 
ritories of  their  enemies,  and  hence  the  whole  country  appears  to  have 
been  divided  among  a  few  powerful  nations;  but  from  the  Tweed  to 
Caithness,  there  were  no  less  than  twenty-one  different  tribes  of  Celtos; 
and  when  the  Romans  abandoned  the  island,  Scotland  was  occupied 
solely  by  this  primeval  race. 

This  division  of  Britain  had  not,  however,  at  this  epoch,  received  that 
appellation  by  which  it  has  been  since  known.  The  term  was  imposed 
by  others,  but  has  never  been  recognised  by  the  native  inhabitants,  in 
whose  language  the  original  name  of  the  country  has  been  always  retain- 
ed. They  disown  the  name  of  Scots, — they  disclaim  foreign  extraction, 
— they  acknowledge  themselves  Albanich,  inhabitants  of  Albion, — an  ap- 
pellation which  to  this  day  is  given  them  by  the  Irish,  who  receive  and 
appropriate,  with  justice,  the  designation  Gael  Eirinach,  Irish  Celts. H 

JEvery  probability  is  in  favor  of  the  opinion  that  the  first  colonies 
from  Gaul  were  settled  in  Britain.  The  world  might  have  rested  satis- 
fied with  the  rational  belief  that  Ireland,  appearing,  ever  since  it  came 
under  the  notice  of  the  Historian,  in  a  state  of  civilisation,  much  inferior 
to  its  sister  island,  could  n6t  have  been  peopled  by  a  more  refined  or 
polished  race  than  the  Celts;  but  Phoenician  records,  and  other  indubi- 


*  MTherson  in  Ossian. — Dr.  M'Pherson's  Dissertations,  &c.  The  word  is  Gaid- 
healtachd,  in  Gaelic  orthography.  [  Cluverius,  Germ.  Ant.  i.  14 

t  Kaled,  British,  hard,  Kaledion,  a  hardy,  rough  people. — Camden.  Pasumont  de 
I'origine  des  mots  Celte  et  Gaul,  1765,  says  Celt  is  robur. 

§  Cilydion,  British,  Borderers.    Lhuyd.  ||  Buchannan  and  Whittaker. 

H  Cyliad,  profugam.    Buxhorn,  in  Ant.  Brit. 

**Dio  speaks  of  them,  about  230,  as  the  only  nation  beyond  the  walls,  in  the  vicini- 
ty of  which  dwelt  the  Meats,  who  were  only  inferior  to  the  Caledonians  in  power. 
Lib.  Ixxvi.  c.  12.  ft  Caledonia.  Critical  Diss.  &c 


48 


THE  SCOTS. 


table  proofs  of  Milesian  and  Heremonian  dynasties  of  glorious  splendor, 
impart  very  different  ideas  of  its  ancient  condition. 

It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  the  honor  of  both  countries  is  so  deeply 
implicated  in  the  simple  fact  of  earliest  inhabitation.  If  the  people  who 
first  took  possession  of  Ireland  passed  over  from  Scotland,  they  are  yet 
to  be  ranked  with  the  most  ancient,  and  therefore  the  most  noble  Celts, 
as  Galgacus  called  the  Caledonians,  who  had  indignantly  retired,  to 
protect  their  independence  in  the  extremity  of  the  land;  for,  in  conse- 
quence of  successive  invasions  from  the  Continent,  the  Irish  were,  prob- 
ably, at  first  compelled  to  cross  the  channel.  The  Highlanders  are 
justly  proud  of  being  descended  of  the  unconquered  tribes;  but,  honor- 
able as  this  is,  others  may  think  that  little  credit  is  to  be  derived  from 
having  left  their  native  seats  and  allowed  themselves  t6  be  confined  to 
the  mountains. 

The  Scots  are  first  mentioned  towards  the  end  of  the  third  century, 
by  Porphyry.  They  are  noticed  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus  in  360;  are 
spoken  of  by  Claudian  about  390,  and  are  generally  supposed  to  have 
been  first  settled  in  Ireland.  As  the  northern  part  of  Britain  did  not  an- 
ciently bear  the  name  of  Scotland,  but  was  certainly  called  Hibernia,  an 
inveterate,  and  apparently  interminable  war,  between  the  Scots  and 
Irish  Antiquaries  has  long  subsisted,  and  the  disputants  have  advanced 
so  much  in  defence  of  their  respective  systems,  that  any  farther  investi 
gation  of  the  subject  is  peculiarly  uninviting.  It  appears  from  Strabo,=^ 
Pomponius  Mela,|  Ptolemy, J  &c.  that  the  northern  division  of  Britain 
was  considered  as  a  separate  island,  a  belief  that  long  continued,  and 
has  proved  a  copious  source  of  national  controversy. 

The  early  accounts  of  Hibernia  are  suitable  to  Scotland,  but  cannot 
with  any  propriety  be  applied  to  Ireland:  at  the  same  time,  that  island 
was  not  unknown,  as  is  apparent  from  Caesar,  Diodorus,  and  others. 
It  has  been  attempted  to  restrict  the  first  writer's  description  to  the 
Scotish  Hibernia,  but  apparently  without  reason.  The  ancients  had 
certainly  a  very  inaccurate  knowledge  of  these  islands,  and  great  con- 
fusion arose  upon  the  full  discovery  that  Britain  was  an  entire  island, 
from  which  Ireland,  situated  towards  the  west,  was  perfectly  distinct. § 
When  this  had  become  well  known,  whatever  had  been  said  concerning 
Hibernia,  or  North  Britain  as  an  island,  was  naturally  appropriated  to  Ire- 
land, to  which  alone  it  appeared  applicable,  the  more  so,  from  the  simi- 
larity of  the  native  word  Iern,||  or  according  to  the  Greek  form  Juverna, 

*  Lib.  ii.  iv.  v.  &c.  t  De  orbis  situ 

t  Syntaxis,  ii.  6.  §  See  Goodall,  in  prefat.  ad  Fordun,  i.  ii.  iii.  &c, 

11  It  was  called  lern,  lernis,  and  Iris  by  the  most  ancient  writers,  and  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  called  Hibernia  before  the  time  of  Caesar.  The  former  is  evidently 
the  original  word,  which,  according  to  Bochart,  is  Phcsnician,  and  implies  the  farthest 
land.  This  agrees  with  the  Gaelic  lar-in,  western  island,  and  it  is  known  that  these 
two  languages  were  anciently  much  alike.  Lemon,  in  his  Etymology,  says  from  Ibh, 
west,  comes  Iber,  Iberia,  &c.  applied  to  those  countries  situated  towards  the  setting 
sun,  or  in  the  direction  of  that  luminary,  when  it  is  eve. 


INHABITANTS  OF  BRITAIN. 


49 


to  the  appellation  Hibernia,  which  appears  to  have  been  bestowed  on 
Scotland  from  its  wintry  climate,  for  Strabo  describes  it  as  *'  north  of 
Britain,  and  the  boundary  of  the  habitable  part  of  the  globe,  where  the 
savage  inhabitants  could  scarcely  live  for  cold. "  He  also  says  its  dis- 
tance from  Gaul  is  upwards  of  600  miles,  an  error  that  he  could  hard- 
ly have  committed  if  his  Hibernia  was  Ireland,  for  it  is  not  100  miles 
from  the  continent.  It  is  evident  that  Ptolemy  had  once  the  same  idea 
concerning  these  islands  which  he  was  able  latterly  to  correct.  In  Scot- 
land, a  noted  station  of  the  Romans  called  Hierna,*  and  locally  situated 
in  Strath  Erne,  added  to  the  misunderstanding,  that  was  yet  farther  in- 
creased by  the  erection  of  the  walls,  which  being  drawn  across  the 
country  from  sea  to  sea,  as  the  boundaries  of  the  provinciated  and  un- 
subdued Britons,  kept  alive  the  idea  of  two  islands;  the  first  division 
being  called  Britannia  Romana,  and  the  other  Britannia  Barbaria. 

Gildas,  who  calls  the  first  "the  Island,"  and  "the  Roman  Island," 
terms  the  Scots  and  Picts  "  transmarini; "  which  Bede,  who  also  speaks 
of  "  the  Island  "  and  "  Britannica,"  as  the  southern  part  explains:  "  I 
have  called  them  foreign  nations,"  says  he,  "  not  because  they  live  be- 
yond Britain,  but  because  they  are  remote  from  that  part  possessed  by 
the  Britons;  two  gulfs  intervening,  though  they  do  not  unite,"!  and  thus 
he  continues  to  speak  as  if  there  were  two  islands,  when  it  was  well 
known  there  was  but  one.  Foreign  writers,  who  only  consulted  the  an- 
cient authors,  propagated  the  error  from  their  own  ignorance,  and  those 
in  subsequent  times,  who  were  better  informed,  have  been  consequently 
astonished  to  read  of  the  island  of  Scotland. 

Fordun,  Buchannan,  and  various  other  historians,  have  remarked 
that  the  term  Britannia  was  applied  to  the  Roman  part  only,  for  the 
Picts  and  Caledonians  are  not  denominated  Britons,  but  are  called  their 
enemies. J  Those  enemies  lived  in  "the  barbarous  island,"  an  appel- 
lation, which  it  may  be  presumed  the  Irish  Antiquaries  will  with  little 
reluctance  allow  the  Scots  to  appropriate  to  their  own  country,  which 
was  that  part  not  subject  to  the  Romans,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were 
reckoned  "foreign  nations,"  or  those  beyond  the  province.  From  a 
supposition  that  the  Friths  on  the  west  and  east  coasts  intersected  the 
country,  the  idea  of  two  islands  first  arose.  It  was  the  enterprising 
Agricola  who  ascertained  that  "the  tide  of  both  seas  stretched  an  im- 
mense way  to  the  interior,  but  were  prevented  from  joining  by  a  narrow 
neck  of  land." 

Abraham  Peritsol  repeatedly  mentions  the  island  Scotland,  believing, 
as  Hide  his  translator  remarks,  that  the  Tweed  made  two  separate 
islands. §  In  the  British  Museum  is  a  map,  originally  constructed  in 
1479,  which  represents  Scotland  as  completely  insulated  from  the  jestua- 
ries  of  the  Forth  and  Clyde;  and  it  is  so  represented  in  the  cosmogra- 

*  Now  Strageth.    Roy's  Military  Antiquities,  p.  128. 

Hist.  Eccles.  \  Eumenius,  Panegyr.  ad  Constant,  xvi. 

§  Itinera  Mundi,  c.  7  &  12. 

7 


50 


THE  SCOTS  IN  BRITAIN, 


phy  of  Peter  Apianus,  published  at  Antwerp  in  1545,  although  "  expur- 
fijated  "  Irom  error.  Richard  of  Cirencester,  better  informed  respecting 
this  part  of  the  kingdom,  but  still  impressed  with  a  belief  in  two  islands, 
separates  the  country  at  the  chain  of  lakes  where  the  great  Canal  now 
is,  carrying  the  Varar  quite  through  from  sea  to  sea,  and  placing  the 
Caledonians  in  the  farther  division,  that  they  might  remain,  as  the  an- 
cients described  them,  in  a  distinct  island.* 

The  name  Hibernia  was  therefore  originally  applied  to  North  Britain, 
and  subsequently  transferred  to  Ireland,  or  restricted  to  it,  when  the 
former  country  began  to  be  called  by  its  proper  name,  Albany,  although 
it  continued  at  the  same  time  occasionally  to  receive  the  former  appel- 
lation. In  the  Roman  Martyrology,  Saint  Bean,  who  died  in  1015,  is 
styled  "  Episcopus  Abredoniae  in  Hybernia;"  and  this  prelate  was  most 
assuredly  a  Scotsman,  for  it  cannot  affect  the  question  that  the  Bishop's 
seat  was  first  established  at  Mortlach,  and  subsequently  removed  to 
Aberdeen. 

In  the  age  of  Alfred,  the  northern  parts  of  Britain  were  called  Ireland 
by  mariners,  |  and  the  Highlanders  were  termed  Hybernenses  even  in 
1180.  From  this  mutation  of  names,  the  Scandinavian  writers  are  sup- 
posed by  Pinkerton  to  have  confounded  Scotland  with  Ireland, 

That  the  Scots  were  the  primjeval  people  of  the  island,  and  not  recent 
settlers,  does  not  seem  to  admit  of  dispute,  and  the  appellation  by  which 
they  were  known  must  have  originated  with  others,  for  it  has  never  been 
acknowledged  by  those  who  are  the  remains  of  the  ancient  inhabitants, 
Albanach  and  Clan  n'  Alban  are  the  terms,  as  has  been  observed,  which 
they  appropriate,  and  derive  from  the  original  name  of  the  whole  island, 
but  which  afterwards  became  restricted  to  a  part  only,  and  is  now  con- 
fined to  the  district  of  Braidalban,  J 

The  Descriptio  Albania  informs  us  that  the  region  which  was  corrupt- 
ly called  Scotia,  formerly  bore  the  name  of  Albania,  Argyle  being  part 
of  it;  and  the  Bishops  of  St,  Andrews,  it  is  known,  were  formerly  styled 
Bishops  of  Albany.  About  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  the  term  Scotia 
began  to  supersede  the  ancient  appellation,  but  the  inhabitants  continued 
to  use  Albany  in  their  own  language,  and  in  Latin,  In  the  work  of 
Hegesippus  on  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which  Sir  George  Mac- 
kenzie thinks  is  of  the  time  of  Hadrian,  about  127,  but  John  F.  Grono- 
vius  asserts  to  be  of  the  age  of  Theodosius,  395,  Josephus  tells  the 
Jews  that  the  mountains  of  Scotland  tremble  at  the  Roman  name,  which 
seems  to  be  the  first  time  the  word  is  used, 

Bede  states  that  Aidan  and  his  successors,  Bishops  of  lona,  who 
preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Northumbrians,  came  from  Scotland,  in 
which  country  that  island  was  certainly  then  as  it  is  now.    Alcuin  and 

*  See  the  engraved  maps  in  Henry's  Hist,  of  Britain,  Pinkerton's  Enquiry,  &c. 
t  Barrington's  Orosius,  in  Caledonia,  i.  338. 

t  The  Albani  of  the  Romans  inhabited  Braidalban,  the  west  parts  of  Perth,  and  east 
parts  of  Argyleshire. 


AND  IN  IRELAND. 


51 


Eginhart,  who  wrote  in  the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  use  this  name, 
but  the  Irish  apply  all  these  passages  to  their  own  country ;  and  Pinker- 
ton,  with  his  usual  confidence,  maintains  that  "  there  is  not  one  authori- 
ty for  the  name  of  Scotland  before  the  eleventh  century." 

Usher  made  a  similar  assertion,  contending  that  Prosper  and  others, 
who  distinguish  the  country  of  the  Scots  from  Britain,  speak  of  Ireland. 
Palladius,  who  was  ordained  by  Pope  Ccelestine  as  the  first  Bishop  of 
the  Scots,  is  said  by  the  Irish  to  have  been  sent  to  them.  This  mission- 
ary came  into  Scotland  and  was  buried  at  Fordun  in  the  Merns,*  where 
Paldy  fair  is  still  held,  and  where  his  shrine  continued  an  object  of  pil- 
grimage till  the  Reformation.  The  "  reges  Scottorum,"  with  whom 
Charlemagne  corresponded, |  are  asserted  to  have  been  kings  of  Ireland; 
and  those  who  admit  the  authenticity  of  the  celebrated  League,  affirm 
that  it  was  made  with  the  Irish  reguli,  for  which  I  believe  no  authentic 
proof  has  ever  been  produced.  J  Two  or  three  Scots  Kings  lived  in  the 
long  reign  of  Charles;  and  if  these  are  not  the  princes  from  whom  he 
received  letters,  which  of  the  Irish  regalities  did  he  honor  by  his  alliance? 
The  annals  of  that  country  do  not  appear  to  recognise  any  such  corres- 
pondence, but  successive  treaties  between  Scotland  and  France,  alluding 
to  leagues  ratified  in  the  most  distant  times, §  and  the  Scotish  guard 
which  remained  until  a  recent  period,  prove  the  ancient  connexion  of 
the  two  countries; — nay,  Sir  George  Mackenzie  says  the  original  league, 
formed  in  791,  was  discovered  in  an  old  register  at  Paris. 

Scoti  and  Albani  were  anciently  synonymous,  and  Scoti  and  Hiberni 
were  indiscriminately  used;  but  that  this  last  term  was  exclusively  ap- 
plied to  the  Irish  is  certainly  false.  When  Ammianus  speaks  of  the 
Romans  defeating  the  Scots  in  lerne,  must  we  not  understand  Caledonia, 
with  the  inhabitants  of  which  the  Romans  fought,  but  had  neither  their 
wars  with  the  Irish,  nor  ever  invaded  their  country.  We  must  in  the 
same  way  explain  the  passage  in  Gorionides  where  the  Romans  are  said 
to  have  reduced  the  Hiberni  to  subjection. U 

Gildas,  in  relating  the  devastation  of  Romanized  Britain  by  the  Scots 
and  Picts,  uses  an  expression  which,  however  translated,  does  not  fix 
the  residence  of  these  nations  in  Ireland.  "  Revertuntur  ergo  impu- 
dentes  grassatores  Hyberni  domum,"  is  usually  rendered,  "the  impu- 
dent Hybernian  robbers  therefore  return  home;"  and  this  home,  if  it  is 
proved  that  Scotland  formerly  received  the  appellation,  must  have  been 
the  "  icy  Hibernia,"  whence  they  had  advanced.  Bcft  if  the  passage 
should  be,  as  Gale,  Bertram,  and  others,  read  from  ancient  MSS.,  "  ad 


*  Brev.  Abredonensis. 
'    t  Eginhart,  vita  et  gestae  Karoli  magni,  p.  138,  ed.  Francofurti. 
t  Irish  Histories.    Chalmers,  in  Caledonia,  i.  463,  &c.  &c. 
§  Letter  of  the  Scots  Nobility  to  the  King  of  France  in  1308,  &c. 
II  See  an  article  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland. 
H  Lib.  vi.  17. 


52 


THE  SCOTS 


hibernas  domos,"  to  their  winter  habitations,  it  is  a  more  satisfactory 
proof  that  the  Scots  who  invaded  the  province  were  not  Irish. 

Henry  of  Huntingdon  says,  that  Ca3sar  sent  his  legions  "  in  Hiberni- 
am,"  but  as  this  cannot  mean  Ireland,  where  neither  that  commander 
nor  his  troops  ever  were,  hiberna,  winter  quarters,  is  substituted  by  An- 
tiquaries as  the  proper  word.  So  the  "  hibernique  Getse  "  of  Proper- 
tius,  instead  of  alluding  to  the  people  of  Ireland,  is  believed  merely  to 
characterize  the  Getians  as  living  in  a  wintry  latitude.  If  Bede  uses 
Hiberni  and  Scoti  for  Irish  only,  how  can  it  be  reconciled  with  his  ex- 
planation of    transmarini?  " 

The  name  of  Scots  was  common  to  the  Irish  Gael  as  well  as  to  those 
of  Albany;*  and  this  general  application  of  the  term  has  greatly  per- 
plexed the  ancient  history  of  Scotland, — "the  confusion  which  it  has 
introduced  is  eternal  and  irremediable."  It  seems,  however,  certain 
that  Ireland  received  its  first  population  from  Albion.  Diodorus  says, 
Iris  was  inhabited  by  Britons;  and  Richard  of  Cirencester  informs  us 
that  the  Scots  of  that  island  were  those  who  were  forced,  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Belgs,  to  leave  their  native  country.  Most  of  these  emigrants, 
it  is  probable,  passed  over  from  Scotland,  where  the  two  islands  ap- 
proximate so  closely;  and  of  which  the  similarity  in  dialect,  and  some 
other  circumstances,  according  to  Sir  William  Petty, "j"  are  evidence. 

An  intimate  connexion  has  existed  from  the  most  remote  times  be- 
tween the  people  of  both  countries,  who  were  related  by  intermarriages, 
and  whose  language  and  customs  were,  for  ages,  perfectly  alike;  but 
the  intercourse  which  has  always  continued  between  the  adjacent  parts 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  affords  no  proof  that  Albany  received  its  in- 
habitants from  "the  western  land." 

The  Irish  extract  of  the  Scots  is,  notwithstanding,  very  keenly  con- 
tended for  by  many  able  writers,  and  the  arguments  are  chiefly  founded 
on  the  ambiguous  use  of  the  term  Hiberni,  and  the  History  of  the  King- 
dom of  Dalriada,  or  that  of  the  Scots  before  the  seat  of  government 
was  transferred  from  Argyle  to  the  Low  Country.  Bede  tells  us  the 
Scots  arrived  from  Ireland  in  that  part  of  the  West  Highlands  now  call- 
ed Argyle,  where  they  settled  under  Reuda  or  Riada,  and  were  from 
him  denominated  Dalreudini,  being  the  fi^st  Scots  who  ever  were  in 
Britain,  This  is  the  venerable  ecclesiastic's  account,  in  which  he  is 
not  corroborated  by  any  authorities  equally  respectable.  Tighearnach, 
the  Ulster  Annals,  Flan  of  Bute,  and  other  ancient  historians  and  doc- 
uments, are  silent  respecting  this  expedition.  The  district  where  the 
colony  established  itself  was  denominated  Ergadia,  or  Argathel,  a  word 
apparently  derived  from  lar  Gael,  the  western  Celts.  The  Irish  call 
the  inhabitants  simply  the  Gael  of  the  hills,  or  high  country,  which  they 
designate  as  Ard  na  n'  Gaodhal,  the  heights  of  the  Gaedhelians,  and 
have  never  applied  to  these  people  their  own  appellation  Eirinach,  which 


*  Gir.  Cambrensis. 


t  Political  Anatomy  of  Ireland. 


OF  DALRIADA  OR  ARGYLE. 


63 


Dr.  M'Pherson  has  well  remarked  no  Highlander  has  ever  yet  called 
himself. 

The  Scots  are  represented  by  Eumenius  and  Sidonius  Appollinaris  as 
one  of  the  nations  with  whom  Caesar  contended.  Alfred,  in  his  version 
of  Orosius,  says,  Severus  often  fought  with  Picts  and  Scots;  and  Fabius 
Ethelwerd  says,  that  Claudius  was  opposed  by  these  nations,  a  sufficient 
proof  of  their  antiquity  in  this  country.  The  Irish  were  called  both 
Scoti  and  Gaidheli;  but  the  Scots  of  Ireland  are  distinguished  from  those 
of  Britain,  who  were  otherwise  denominated  Hiberni,  a  term  that  was 
also  common  to  the  people  of  Ulster.  Andrew,  Bishop  of  Caithness, 
from  whom  Cambrensis  had  his  information,  told  him  that  the  people  of 
Argyle  were  called  Hybernenses,  and  their  country  Arregathel  "  quasi 
margo  Scottorum  seu  Hybernensium."  *  Bede  calls  this  part  of  the 
country  ''the  province  of  the  Northern  Scots,"  from  which  it  may  ap- 
pear that  these  people  were  to  be  found  elsewhere.  Orosius  calls  the 
inhabitants  of  Anglesea,  Scots,  which  Buchannan  notices.  All  the  Irish 
were  not  Scoti,  but  the  Dalriads  are  so  called  by  Bede,  Adamnan,  and 
others;  and  Giraldus  Cambrensis  informs  us  it  was  applied  as  a  special 
name.  From  other  authorities,  we  find  that  these  people  were  also 
known  as  Albanach. 

The  first  arrival  of  the  Scots  in  Argyle  is  said  to  have  taken  place  in 
258 ;  I  but  it  is  more  generally  believed  to  have  happened  later.  We 
find  that,  about  210,  a  settlement  was  formed  by  the  Picts  in  the  North 
of  Ireland,  which  Bede  considers  as  their  original  seat;  and  in  this  part 
of  the  island  there  was  a  little  kingdom  called  Dalriada,  which  comprised 
the  present  county  of  Antrim  and  some  neighboring  districts,  and  is  al- 
lowed to  have  been  subject  to  the  British  Scots  until  it  was  at  last  an- 
nexed to  the  kingdom  of  Ulster. 

It  is  acknowledged  that  Caledonii,  Picti,  Albani,  and  Scoti  were 
synonymous  appellations,  or  nearly  so.  It  is  not,  therefore,  very  evident 
that  "in  the  time  of  Bede  only  the  Dalriads  were  properly  Scots;"  it  is 
still  less  apparent  that  they  were  Irish.  The  Picts  of  Ireland,  and  it 
should  seem  of  Scotland  also,  were  termed  Crutheni,  or  Cruithnich,  a' 
word  implying  corn,  or  wheat  eaters,  in  allusion  to  their  practice  of  ag- 
riculture. The  former  were  established  in  a  little  principality,  between 
which  and  the  kingdom  in  Scotland  there  was  kept  up  a  friendly  inter- 
course. O'Conner  says  that  the  connexions  between  the  Crutheni  of 
Scotland  and  Cairbre  Riada  being  renewed,  he  obtained  a  settlement 
among  them.  Bede  says  the  Dalriads  took  possession  partly  through 
force,  partly  through  favor.  The  Albanic  Duan  intimates  that  it  was 
by  "  a  high  hand,"  that  they  established  themselves,  but  other  authori- 
ties inform  us  that  they  were  invited  over. 

From  the  name  of  the  leader  of  the  first  colony,  the  territories  where 
it  settled  are  said  to  have  acquired  the  name  Dal-Riada,  the  tribe  of 


*  Descriptio  Albaniae 


+  Pinkerton's  Enquiry. 


64 


THE  SCOTS. 


Riada,  an  etymology  that  does  not  very  well  agree  with  the  idiom  of 
the  Gaelic  language,  and  that  otherwise  is  objectionable.  We  find  it  in 
the  ancient  annals  written  Dalaroidh,  Slc. 

Loarn,  the  name  of  one  of  the  kinglets  into  which  Argyle  was  divided 
by  Fergus  Mac  Eire,  is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  that  of  his  broth- 
er; but  it  appears  under  the  form  of  Lora  or  Lori,  which  otherwise  oc- 
curs as  an  ancient  local  name. 

It  is  evident  from  both  Scots  and  Irish  records,  that  those  who  were 
known  as  Dalriads,  and  had  been  long  settled  in  Argyle,  were  driven  to 
Ireland  on  some  occasion,  about  440  or  446;  and  this  circumstance, 
coinciding  with  the  supposed  entire  expulsion  of  the  Scots,  has  increased 
the  confusion  in  this  part  of  our  history,  and  strengthened  the  belief  in 
the  Irish  extract  of  the  Scots  nation. 

That  the  Scots  were  utterly  expelled  from  North  Britain,  as  repre- 
sented, is  certainly  untrue.  The  Roman  Historians,  and  the  national 
Chronicles,  instead  of  showing  that  the  Picts  and  Scots  were  at  vari- 
ance, or  that  the  one  nation  had  been  expatriated,  prove  that  they  con- 
tinued faithful  allies,  acting  in  confederation  against  the  Romans  and 
provinciated  Britons,  during  the  period  of  this  pretended  banishment. 
And  here  again  appears  a  proof  that  the  Dalriads  were  not  the  only  Scots 
in  Britain.  Those,  however,  who  sent  them  out  of  the  country  were 
obliged  to  bring  them  back  at  some  period;  and,  if  the  national  annals 
are  allowed  to  be  authentic,  the  return  and  accession  of  Fergus  to  the 
throne  took  place  in  the  year  403;  but  those  who  have  critically  investi- 
gated Scots'  history  reject  this  epoch,  and  contend  that  this  prince  and 
his  brother  Loarn  returned  from  Ireland  an  hundred  years  later,  and 
reigned  jointly,  until  the  death  of  the  latter  left  Fergus  sole  king  of  the 
province. 

The  Scots  appear  neither  as  exiles  nor  a  subjugated  people,  during 
the  period  when  they  are  said  to  have  been  in  banishment.  When  Vor- 
tigern  invited  the  Saxons  to  assist  him  with  their  forces,  it  was  chiefly 
to  protect  him  from  the  Scots,  *  but  the  Dalriada?  were  certainly  at  first 
an  insignificant  community,  although  they  afterwards  became  of  moie 
note,  and,  by  their  connexion  with  the  Pictish  royal  family,  they  finally 
perpetuated  the  race  of  their  own  princes  in  the  line  of  Scots'  Kings. 
The  Highlanders  call  Achaius,  or  Achadh,  who  reigned  more  than  fifty 
years  before  the  subversion  of  the  Pictish  kingdom,  the  king  of  Albany. f 

Numerous  etymologies  have  been  given  of  the  name  Scot,  which  is 
thus  seen  to  have  been  borne  by  the  inhabitants  of  both  countries  Its 
similarity  to  that  of  the  Scythae  is  striking,  and  has  determined  many  to 
derive  the  Scots  direct  from  Scythia.  It  is  rather  probable  that  those 
people,  so  remote  from  each  other,  bore  a  name  which  was  expressive 
in  the  primitive  language  of  Europe,  but  was  somewhat  varied  in  the 
primitive  dialects.     Florus  writes  to  Hadrian,  who  was  in  Caledonia, 


Nennius. 


t  Stewart's  Sketches  of  the  Highlanders. 


THE  ATTICOTS. 


65 


that  he  would  not  wish  to  suffer  Scythic  frosts;  and  Nennius  uses  both 
Scytha3  and  Scotti  indifferently:  Porphyry  also,  in  some  old  editions,  has 
Scithica  gentes. 

The  name  of  the  numerous  people  on  the  continent  who  were  known 
as  Skythae,  has  been,  with  the  appearance  of  certainty,  deduced  from  the 
Nomadic  state  in  which  they  lived,  and  the  similarity  of  this  appellation 
to  the  Scuite  of  the  Seanachies  is  apparent. 

In  the  extensive  regions  which  the  former  people  inhabited,  pasturage 
was  the  sole  occupation.  There  were  no  towns;  but  the  people  moved 
about  continually  with  their  cattle,  having  no  settled  residence.  He- 
rodotus says,  "  they  do  not  cultivate  the  ground,  but  lead  a  pastoral  life;" 
nay,  some  of  them,  he  declares,  were  destitute  even  of  tents,  dwelling  in 
summer  "each  man  under  his  own  tree."*  He  afterwards  observes, 
that  the  Callipidae,  one  of  their  nations,  did  raise  corn,  but  it  was  not  to 
eat,  but  sell.  Strabo  considers  Scythoe  and  Nomades  synonymous  terms. f 

In  the  time  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  they  remained  in  the  same  va- 
grant state  of  existence,  when  the  Scots  of  these  islands  had  become 
well  known.  "  Some  few  of  the  Scyths,"  says  this  author,  "  feed  on 
corn  and  fruits,  but  all  in  general  wander  over  the  wilds.  Their  wives, 
then-  children,  their  furniture  and  houses,  if  they  can  be  so  termed,  are 
on  wagons,  covered  with  bark,  and  they  remove  them  at  their  pleasure, 
whithersoever  they  think  fit."  The  Scots,  in  like  manner,  are  character- 
ized by  the  same  Ammianus,  as  wandering  up  and  down,  without  any 
fixed  place  of  abode;  and  the  description  is  agreeable  to  the  account 
that  Nica)us  gives  of  them.  Hence  the  propriety  of  the  name  Scuite, 
*'the  wandering  nation,"  by  which  the  Seanachies  distinguish  those 
Gaedhelians  who  had  no  fixed  residence,  for  they  made  use  of  both  ap- 
pellations.J  The  original  word  in  Ossian  is  Scuta,  which  literally  signi- 
fies, "  restless  wanderer." ^ 

That  these  people  were  not  a  particular  tribe  or  nation,  is  evinced 
from  the  expression  "  Scoticse  gentes;"  and  they  ranged  about  at  times 
with  the  Atticots,  ||  or  Attascots,  as  some  read,  who  appear  from  the 
annals  of  Ireland  to  have  been  also  in  that  country,  and  who  are  suppos- 
ed to  have  been  the  Dalriads. 

The  name  of  Scot  was  apparently  given  to  that  part  of  the  population 

*  Lib.  ii. 

t  "  Gentes  uno  prius  nomine  omnes  vel  Scythoe  vel  Nomades  (ut  ab  Homero)  ap- 
pellabantur."  i.  48.  Falconer's  ed.  Chcerilus,  celebrating  Alexander's  expedition, 
characterizes  the  Sacae  as  "  fond  of  pastoral  life."  Bryant's  Analysis  of  Ancient  My- 
thology, iii.  547. 

t  Ogygia.  §  Carthon. 

II  Porphyry,  whose  observation  gives  no  reason  to  believe  they  were  considered  a  re- 
cent nation  in  the  third  century.  "The  Attacots,"  says  Marcellinus,  "a  warlike 
band,  and  the  Scots,  wandering  up  and  down,  committed  great  depredations."  xxvii. 
c.  7.  The  name  seems  derived  from  Attich,  inhabitants,  coed,  of  the  woods.  Those 
who  live  in  the  woods  are  at  this  day  called,  by  the  Highlai  ders,  dwellers  of  the  woods. 
-Dr.  M'Pherson. 


56 


M.EATS 


of  both  Scotland  and  Ireland,  which  remained  pastoral  and  unsettled, 
and  was  not  a  term  of  reproach,  as  some  conceive,  but  an  honorable  ap- 
pellation. It  was  only  those  who  possessed  numerous  flocks,  and  were 
able  to  traverse  the  country  without  restraint,  who  deserved  it.  Their 
riches  gave  them  influence,  and  Scoti  and  reguli  were  synonymous.* 

The  Scots  of  both  countries  are  distinguished  by  Nennius,  for  they  were 
certainly  peculiar  to  neither.  Ulster  was  the  proper  country  of  the  Irish- 
Scots;  between  whom,  and  those  of  the  West  of  Scotland,  there  long 
continued  so  intimate  a  connexion,  that  the  people  may  be  said  to  have 
anciently  been  the  same;  but  the  terms  Scoti  and  Hiberni  appear  rather 
confounded  than  synonymous.  The  transfer  of  name  from  a  supposed 
island  to  k  real  one,  and  the  misapplication  of  passages  relating  to  these 
different  countries,  have  been  productive  of  much  confusion  and  obscurity. 

A  great  part  of  the  population  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  continued  for 
many  ages  to  move  about  for  the  pasturage  of  their  flocks.  In  the  latter 
country,  the  practice  was  remarkable  even  until  recent  times.  Spenser 
informs  us,  it  was  a  general  occupation  for  the  inhabitants  to  traverse 
the  country,  *' driving  their  cattle  continually  with  them,  and  feeding 
only  on  their  milk  and  white  meates."|  In  allusion  to  this  custom,  Gil- 
das  observes,  that  Britain  abounded  with  hills  that  were  very  convenient 
for  the  alternate  pasture  of  flocks  and  herds.  The  Scots  have  been, 
and,  from  the  nature  of  their  country,  a  great  proportion  of  the  inhabit- 
ants must  continue  a  pastoral  people;  but  their  wanderings  have  long 
ceased  to  extend  farther  than  from  the  homesteading  in  the  glen,  to  the 
shealings  in  the  mountains,  during  the  months  of  summer. 

The  Meat.e  were  those  who  lived  within  the  Walls,  and  their  name 
was  expressive  of  their  local  situation,  being  derived  from  Moi,  plain, 
and  Aitich,  inhabitants,  J  although  within  the  Roman  pale  they  were 
scarcely  subdued;  and  it  was  only  about  368,  that  this  part  of  the  island 
was  formed  into  the  province  of  Valentia.  The  Meatee  were  of  the  same 
Celtic  race  as  the  other  nations;  and  the  Walenses,  or  people  of  Gallo- 
way, are  their  remains. 

They  are  supposed,  by  General  Roy,  to  have  become  known  as  Picts, 
a  name  which  appears  to  have  been  of  wide  application,  and  first  occurs 
in  an  oration  of  the  panegyrist  Eumenius,  to  Constantius,  on  his  victory 
over  Alectus,  in  296,  and  they  are  not  spoken  of  as  a  recent  people,  but 
as  having,  like  the  Scots,  been  in  the  island  before  the  arrival  of  Caesar. 
It  was,  indeed,  an  established  tradition  in  Bede's  time,  that  the  Picts 
were  the  original  inhabitants  of  Scotland;  and,  agreeably  to  this  opinion, 
it  is  said  that  Pictland  was  afterwards  corruptly  called  Scotia. 

The  same  Eumenius  terms  all  the  extra  provincials  Picts,  and  plainly 
shows  that  they  were  the  same  people  as  the  Caledonians.    When  the 

*  Bfide.    See  also  Innes's  Crit.  Essay.  t  View  of  Ireland,  1596. 

t  Mac  Pherson,  in  Ossian.  Whittaker  says  from  mcean,  middle,  or  moi,  plain.  In- 
nes  translates  it  Midland  Britons.  The  ancient  province  of  Meath,  in  Ireland,  seems 
to  have  received  its  name  from  the  same  cause. 


CALEDONIANS  AND  PICTS. 


57 


Emperor  Constantiiis  came  mto  Britain,  he  proceeded  to  repel  the  Cal- 
edonii  et  alii  Picti." 

Giraldus  Cambrensis  says  that  some  assigned  a  period  of  1070  years 
for  the  duration  of  the  Pictish  kingdom,  which,  reckoning  from  its  sub- 
version in  841,  will  carry  it  to  the  year  229  before  the  Christian  era. 

Herodian  calls  the  Caledonians  Picti;*  and  Ammianus  says  they 
were  divided  into  two  nations,  the  Deu  Caledonii  and  Vecturiones, 
names  which  appear  appropriate  to  their  different  situations.  An  dua 
or  tua,  north,  Chaeldoch  or  Ghaeldoch,  Caledonian,  an  appellation  some 
west  Highlanders,  as  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  avers,  continued  to  give  to  the 
people  of  Ross  and  Sutherland.  A  part  of  Drumalban  is  still  called 
Drum-Uachter,  and  Uachturich,  which  has  the  same  signification  as 
Highlanders,  is  supposed,  with  the  appearance  of  probability,  to  be  the 
origin  of  Vecturiones,  which  has  otherwise  been  written  Venricones,"}* 
and,  perhaps,  Venicontes.J 

In  the  time  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  it  appears  the  Scots  were  call- 
ed Picts  generally.  A  passage  in  an  ancient  poem  by  Ossian,  or  some 
other  bard,  shows  that  the  Caledonians  did  not  reject  the  term.  "  Alas! 
that  it  was  not  in  the  land  of  Picts,  of  the  bloody  and  fierce  Fingalians 
that  thou  didst  fall." 

It  is  believed  that  this  name  was  applied  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
North. ^  The  similarity  of  interments  in  the  Highlands  and  Lowlands, 
affords  a  proof  of  the  identity  of  the  ancient  inhabitants,  who  were  un-  > 
doubtedly  Celts.  Indeed,  Innes  is  of  opinion  that  the  Caledonians 
were  but  a  part  of  the  Pictish  nation, |1  which  was  subdued  by  Kenneth 
Mac  Alpin,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  then  utterly  exterminated.  On 
the  contrary,  however,  this  prince  was  styled,  as  his  successors  long 
continued  to  be,  King  of  the  Picts. IT  He  was,  in  fact,  one  of  their  own 
monarchs,  and  had  a  legitimate  claim  to  the  throne,  being  the  son  of 
Urguist,  daughter  of  Hungus,  King  of  the  Picts,  who  was  married  to 
Achaius,  King  of  the  Scots.** 

Nennius  declares  that  the  Picts  remained  in  his  days;  and  the  Bard 
of  Malcolm  the  Third  gives  no  intimation  of  their  pretended  extirpation. 
Their  chief  seat,  about  the  year  875,  was  Galloway,  a  district  which  re- 
mained to  a  late  period  in  a  state  of  comparative  independence,  govern- 
ed by  its  native  princes,  and  regulated  by  its  peculiar  customs. H 

The  last  mention  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  province  by  the  ancient 
name,  is  in  1138,  when  they  fought  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard.  Rich- 

*  D'Anville  says  they  are  not  to  be  distinguished  from  each  other. 

t  Mac  Pherson's  Critical  Dissertations.  Another  very  plausible  etymology  of  Deu 
Caledonii  is  from  dubh,  black.  It  is  said  the  Irish  called  the  west  Plighlanders  "  DufFe 
Alibawn."  Maule's  Hist,  of  the  Picts.  Buchannan  thinks  Deu  Caledonii  ought  to  be 
Dun  Caledones.    See  also  Grant's  Thoughts  on  the  Gael. 

X  Ptolemy,  lib.  xxvii.  c.  7.  §  Whittaker.  ||  Critical  Essay. 

IT  Tighearnach.    Caradoc  of  Llancarvon,  &c.  **  See  Pinkerton's  Enquiry. 

it  The  princes  are  styled  Reguli  by  Fordun,  sub.  an.  1159,  &c     In  1308,  "  Galwide 
was  not  parcel  of  the  crown."    MS.  in  Brit.  Mus. 
8 


DIFFERENCE  IN  MANNERS  AND  LANGUAGE. 


ard  of  Hexham  says  the  Picts  of  David's  army  were  vulgarly  called 
Galleweienses.  Gallovid,  says  Buchannan,  in  old  Scots,  is  a  Gaul; 
and  what  the  Scots  call  Gallowithia,  the  Welsh  pronounce  Wallowithia. 
So  Talliesen  calls  the  Principality,  Wallia,  and  the  Saxons  called  the 
inhabitants  Bryt  wealas,  which  they  latinized  Gauli.*  The  inhabitants 
were  also  called  what,  in  fact,  they  were,  Scoti,t  and  this  division  of 
Scotland  was  anciently  of  much  greater  extent  than  it  is  now.  It  com- 
prehended all  the  tract  of  land  from  the  Solvvay  Frith  to  the  Clyde. 
From  charters  of  David  I.,  the  town  of  Irwine,  with  Kyle,  Cunningham, 
Renfrew,  &:c.  constituted  part  of  this  extensive  district;  and  hence  Gal- 
loway was  able  to  offer  so  much  as  two  thousand  marks,  with  five  hund- 
red cows,  and  as  many  hogs  yearly,  for  the  King  of  J^ngland's  protec- 
tion, when,  in  1174,  they  attempted  to  assert  their  independence  on  the 
Scots'  crown. J  Nor  were  the  Picts  confined  to  Galloway,  but  about 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  inhabited  Lothian.^ 

The  conjectures  of  etymologists  are  often  as  unsatisfactory  as  they 
are  numerous.  Investigations  of  this  kind  are  both  useful  and  instruct- 
ive when  judiciously  pursued,  but  they  are  often  absurd  or  frivolous. 
The  impropriety  of  deriving  this  word  from  the  Latin  Picti,  painted,  has 
been  often  noticed.  These  people  could  not  be  solely  entitled  to  the  ap- 
pellation, when  the  other  tribes  equally  practised  the  custom  of  staining 
their  bodies. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  the  nature  of  the  country  inhabited  by  the 
Picts,  must  have  in  time  produced  a  difference  between  them  and  the 
Caledonians,  although  both  of  the  same  race.  There  were  natural 
boundaries  by  which  the  two  nations  were  separated,  and  which  must 
for  some  months  in  the  year  have  precluded  all  intercourse.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  singular,  that  people  originally  the  same,  should  become  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other,  and  acquire  peculiar  names.  The  nature  of 
their  territories  must  have  produced  a  change  in  national  manners,  and 
rendered  their  avocations  different.  A  native  of  the  flat  country  of 
Moray  or  Buchan  was  not  likely  to  be  expert  in  those  pursuits  that  were 
the  favorite  recreations  of  the  people  of  the  high  countries  of  Mar  or 
Badenoch;  nor  could  a  Highlander  easily  accommodate  himself  to  a 
residence  on  the  plain.  It  is  the  opinion  of  General  Roy,  that  the  Picts 
and  Caledonians  were  the  same  people,  who  acquired  different  names 
from  their  local  situation.  || 

The  Language,  from  the  same  causes,  must  undergo  a  change,  which 
in  process  of  time  will  become  very  perceptible.  It  has  already  been 
shown  that  the  languages  of  Gaul  were  but  different  dialects  of  the  same 
speech;  it  appears  equally  certain  that  those  of  Britain  were  at  one  time 
the  same.    When  we  find  the  Gaelic,  as  used  in  Scotland  and  Ireland, 

*  Whittaker,  Dr.  Mac  Pberson,  &c.    Walsh,  in  German,  is  the  name  for  a  Gaul 
t  Isodorus,  Origines,  ix.  2.  +  Guthrie,  &c. 

§  Alexander  Nechamus,  quoted  by  Goodall,  in  pref.  ut  sup, 
II  Military  Antiquities,  p.  129. 


GAELIC  THE  ORIGINAL  LANGUAGE. 


69 


the  Welsh,  the  Cornish,  wTiich  is  but  lately  lost,  and  the  Manx,  all 
variations  of  the  Celtic,  spoken  in  the  British  islands,  we  can  readily 
admit  the  observation  of  Bede,  that  the  language  of  the  Picts  differed 
from  that  of  the  Britons  of  Wales,  and  the  Scots  of  Ireland,  without 
giving  up  our  belief  in  their  national  identity.  Camden  shows  that  the 
British  and  Pictish  tongues  were  alike,*  and  the  different  languages  of 
Bede  could  only  have  been  dialects,  a  conclusion  to  which  Buchannan 
came,  for  this  reason  chiefly,  that  none  of  these  nations  appeared  to  have 
required  an  interpreter. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  original  Celts  were  expelled  from  the  low  coun- 
try of  Scotland  upwards  of  2000  years  ago,  by  a  people  who  spoke  a  dif- 
ferent language,  and  who  are  said  to  have  been  of  Cumraeg  extract  ;t 
if  so,  there  ought  to  be  some  remains  of  their  speech;  but  the  local  names 
in  the  east  and  south  of  Scotland  ^re  not  Welsh,  but  Scotish  Gaelic, 
and  are  "  far  too  numerous  to  be  the  relics  of  a  language,  which  has 
been  expelled  from  those  parts  of  the  country  for  2000  years." 

It  has  been  attempted  to  prove  that  the  Picts  were  Goths  from  Scan- 
dinavia, by  whom  the  Saxon  language  was  introduced,  and  fixed  along 
the  south  and  east  coasts,  and  to  support  this  system  the  public  have  been 
favored  with  etymologies  "  altogether  imaginary  and  ill  founded.  "J 
Those  who  maintain  the  opinion  and  cite  the  languages  of  Bede,  ought 
not  to  forget  that  he  expressly  says  the  Pictish  was  different  from  the 
Saxon;  but  the  whole  argument  founded  on  the  Saxon  language  of  the 
low  country,  I  apprehend,  is  overthrown  by  the  fact,  that  in  Galloway, 
the  last  sovereignty  of  the  Picts,  the  native  tongue  which  continued  to  be 
spoken  in  the  time  of  Queen  Mary,  was  Gaelic,  for  which  Buchannan, 
being  conversant  with  that  language,  is  an  unexceptionable  authority.^ 
Pinkerton  himself  acknowledges  that  it  was  spoken  until  lately  in  Carrick. 

The  dreary  forests,  the  sterile  and  forbidding  wastes  of  Scandinavia, 
so  far  from  having  been  the  officina  gentium,  whence  nations  were  sent 
forth  to  overspread  and  people  Europe,  and  from  which  fecund  store- 
house is  said  to  have  issued,  that  Gothic  colony  from  which  the  Picts 
were  descended,  must  have  remained  desert  and  unoccupied  by  mankind 
until  comparatively  recent  times. 

Adam  of  Bremen,  who  wrote  in  the  eleventh  century,  says,  that  even 
in  his  time,  the  shores  only  of  Denmark  were  inhabited,  the  interior 
being  an  impenetrable  forest  ;1|  and  Gibbon  asserts  that  Scandinavia, 
twenty  centuries  ago,  must  in  all  the  low  parts  have  been  covered  by 
the  sea:  the  high  lands  only  rising  above  the  water,  like  islands. IT 

That  Scotland,  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  and  long  after,  was  inhab- 
ited by  Caledonians  and  Picts,  as  it  has  been  since  by  Highlanders  and 
Lowlanders,  is  perfectly  clear;  that  both  were  of  Celtic  origin  seems  ab- 
solutely certain.    Differences  existed  between  the  inhabitants  of  certain 

*  Dr.  Mac  Pherson.  t  Pinkerton. 

t  Dr.  Murray's  remarks  on  the  history  and  language  of  the  Pehts  in  Trans,  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  vol.  ii.  part  1. 

§  Lib.  i.  11.  II  Diss,  on  the  Scyths,  p.  23.  IT  c.  ix. 


60 


INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  GOTHIC  LANGUAGE. 


districts,  either  arising  from  local  position  and  peculiar  circumstances, 
or  produced  by  the  intermixture  of  colonies  subsequently  arriving.  The 
parts  possessed  by  the  Picts  were  better  adapted  for  agriculture  and 
commerce  than  the  rugged  wilds  of  Caledonia;  and  it  is  from  their  set- 
tled lives  and  attention  to  manufactures,  that  the  Highland  traditions 
represent  them  as  an  ingenious,  rather  than  a  warlike  people.  An  early 
change,  therefore,  took  place  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  low  country, 
for  those  pursuits  invariably  lead  to  mutations  in  language  and  manners; 
and  the  observation  of  a  learned  gentleman  respecting  the  Gaelic  is  per- 
fectly just, — "Rocks,  seas,  and  deserts,  ignorance,  sterility,  and  want 
of  commerce,  are  its  best  preservatives."* 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  language  of  the  eastern  Celts  on  the  con- 
tinent, became  first  corrupted  by  the  Gothic,  which  was  itself  derived 
from  the  primitive  Celticf  "  The  most  ancient  remains  of  the  German 
or  Teutonic  approach  very  near  to  the  Moesa  Gothic,  "J  and  the  Anglo 
Saxon  was  immediately  derived  from  the  old  Saxon  of  Germany. § 

The  Gothic  was  long  established  among  the  Northern  nations,  and  in 
England,  before  it  was  introduced  into  Scotland  or  Ireland;  and  in  those 
early  ages,  it  was  so  pure  that  the  people  of  remote  countries  found  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  each  other.  In  the  time  of  Ethelred,  979,  an 
Englishman  could  converse  with  a  Scandinavian,  and  could  not,  from  his 
tongue,  know  him  to  be  a  foreigner. || 

The  inhabitants  of  the  south  and  east  of  Scotland,  advancing  into  a 
state  of  civilisation,  in  consequence  of  an  intercourse  with  England  and 
other  parts,  were  prepared,  and,  as  it  were,  forced,  gradually,  to  admit 
the  Saxon  language;  but  the  vernacular  tongue  of  the  Picts  continued  to 
predominate.  In  the  reign  of  MalcoIm-Cean-more,  towards  the  end  of 
the  eleventh  century,  none  of  the  clergy  could  understand  the  Saxon 
without  an  interpreter. 

Improvements  in  commerce  and  agriculture  induced  the  settlement  of 
strangers; — the  progress  of  refinement  occasioned  the  introduction  of 
many  new  terms,  and  paved  the  way  for  fixing,  in  the  lowlands,  the 
Saxon  language,  to  which  several  circumstances  greatly  conduced. 

In  547,  Ida,  king  of  Northumberland,  with  an  army  of  Anglo  Saxons, 
took  possession  of  the  lower  part  of  Roxburgh,  and  seized  Lothian,  a 
term  which  there  is  reason  to  believe  was  then  applied  to  the  south  as 
well  as  north  side  of  the  Tweed.  This  invasion  is,  however,  not  likely 
to  have  made  that  alteration  in  the  languagelT  which  is  supposed,  even 
although  the  invaders  had  settled  in  the  conquered  provinces,  for  they 
must,  as  it  is  admitted  the  colonies  from  Germany  and  Scandinavia  did, 
have  eventually  merged  in  the  Celtic  tribes.  Oswy,  King  of  the  Nor- 
danhymbri,  or  people  of  Northumberland,  about  650,  reduced  the 

*  "  Next  to  valuable  books  and  permanent  records." — Dr.  M'Pherson. 
t  See  p.  25 

$  Jamieson's  observations  on  Dr.  Murray's  remarks,  ut  sup. 

§  De  Murr's  Conspectus  Biblioth.  Glot.  Univers.  ap.  Jamieson,  ut  sup. 

II  Gunlaug  saga.    Heimskringla,  ap.  Jamieson.  IT  Border  Antiquities. 


ITS  LATE  RECEPTION  IN  SOME  PARTS. 


Gl 


Scots  and  Picts,  who  lived  between  the  Tweed  and  Forth,  and  exacted 
tribute  from  them  until  685,  when  the  Picts  recovered  their  possessions. 
During  this  period,  the  Saxon  language,  it  is  believed,  first  began  to 
be  used  in  the  south;  but  on  the  Norman  invasion,  the  Royal  family 
of  England,  the  principal  nobility,  with  their  attendants  and  others, 
who  would  not  submit  to  the  conquerors,  took  refuge  in  Scotland;  and 
Malcolm  married  the  princess  Margaret,  sister  to  Edgar  Atheling,  and 
harrassed  the  borders  with  fire  and  sword.  •  So  many  refugees  on  this 
occasion  accepted  the  protection  of  the  Scotish  King,  that  Simeon  of 
Durham  tells  us  the  kingdom  was  "  stocked  with  English  men  and 
maid  servants,  so  that,  to  this  day,  there  is  not  a  farm  house,  or  even  a 
cottage,  where  they  are  not  to  be  found."*  On  the  death  of  the  Con- 
queror, and  defeat  of  the  rebellion  against  his  successors,  many  Normans 
also  retired  to  Scotland,  and  Malcolm,  with  much  policy,  settled  them 
chiefly  on  the  borders  of  his  kingdom,  and  in  the  towns  on  the  east  coast 
that  were  exposed  to  the  frequent  invasions  of  the  Danes.  "  The  towns 
and  boroughs  of  Scotland,"  says  William  of  Newburgh,  "  are  known  to 
be  inhabited  by  the  English;"  but  when  an  opportunity  offered,  he  adds, 

the  Scots,  from  an  innate  hatred  towards  them,  which  they  dissembled 
from  a  fear  of  offending  the  king,  destroyed  all  whom  they  found," 
The  Celts  were  averse  to  live  in  towns  and  submit  to  sedentary  occupa- 
tions, or  apply  themselves  to  commercial  pursuits;  hence  the  Saxons, 
Normans,  Flemings,  and  others,  were  generally  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Boroughs,  and  advantageously  pursued  those  trades  which  the  natives 
had  little  inclination  to  acquire. "j"  Through  their  means,  chiefly,  the 
Saxon  was  propagated,  for  it  had  become  the  language  most  generally- 
understood  in  Europe.  It  was,  as  it  were,  the  court  language  during 
the  reign  of  Malcolm,  and  the  influence,  which  this  must  have  had  even 
in  those  days,  is  easily  conceived.  Besides,  all  our  kings,  from  Mal- 
colm-Cean-more  to  Alexander  IT.,  lived  some  time  in  England,  learned 
the  language  and  married  English  princesses. 

To  those  who  maintain  that  the  Gothic  was  the  language  of  the  Picts, 
or  who  assert  that  the  limits  of  the  two  languages  have  always  continued 
the  same,  or  nearly  so,  it  is  to  be  mentioned  that,  so  late  as  the  reign  of 
Queen  Mary,  the  Gaelic  was  spoken  in  the  Gariach,  Aberdeenshire, 
where  it  is  now  entirely  unknown,  and  was  even  taught  in  the  schools  of 
Aberdeen.  In  Ireland,  the  nobility  and  gentry  continued  to  use  this 
language  until  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  or  James  the  First. J  The  Saxon 
has  continued  to  gain  ground  in  both  countries,  and  must  inevitably,  at 
no  very  distant  period,  wholly  supplant  the  Gaelic. 

It  is  not  the  Saxon  language  alone  that  has  excited  the  investigation 
of  antiquaries;  the  Dalriads  are  said  to  have  brought  over  their  native 
tongue,  which,  according  to  some  writers,  they  disseminated  all  over 

*  Lib.  ii.  c.  34.  t  See  all  ancient  Charters,  and  other  documents, 

t  Highland  Society's  ed.  of  Ossian.  About  1619,  the  use  of  the  Irish  language,  in 
deeds,  was  discontinued.    Trans,  of  Ir.  Acad. 


62 


THE  SCOTS  AN  UNMIXED  RACE. 


Scotland,  a  proof  not  only  that  the  Scots'  Monarchy  was  derived  from 
Ireland,  but  that  the  people  spoke  a  different  language.  Chalmers,  who 
allows  the  Gaelic  of  North  Britain  to  be  the  purest,  believes  he  has 
proved  the  introduction  of  the  Irish  dialect,  by  citing  a  charter  which 
refers  to  "  Inverin  qui  fuit  Aberin."  This  is  any  thing  but  satisfactory; 
he  means  to  show  that  the  Irish  Inbhear  supplanted  the  Scotish  Abar  or 
Aber.  Inver,  here  used  with  in,  an  island  or  country,  signifies  the  land 
which  lies  between  the  confluence  of  two  rivers,  and  Aber,  which  seems 
to  be  the  original  word,  is  generally  applied  in  the  same  sense.  Aber, 
however,  properly  denotes  marsh  and  boggy  ground,  but  as  this  place 
lay  on  the  east  coast,  it  had  been  probably  drained  by  the  industrious 
Picts,  and  could  no  longer,  w^ith  propriety,  be  called  Aber-in.  Abar  is 
a  compound  word,  from  Ab,  an  obsolete  Gaelic  term  for  water,  which, 
as  may  be  seen  in  many  names  still  existing,  became  softened  into  Av. 
Bar,  is  a  heap, a  height,  or  point.  Now  the  Caledonians  generally  chose 
marshes  as  the  sites  of  their  entrenchments,  and  many  Highlanders  I 
have  found  yet  understand  by  abar,  a  work,  as  of  an  earthen  mound,  a 
trench,  &c.  If,  however,  the  language  of  the  Eirinich  differed  from  that 
of  the  Scotish  Gael,  which  it  is  said  to  have  supplanted,  no  tradition  or 
vaHd  proof  remains  to  attest  it;  and  if  the  Dalriads  brought  over  their  lan- 
guage, they  did  so  effectually,  for  they  have  left  no  Invers  behind  them. 

At  the  Roman  abdication  of  Britain,  in  446,  there  was  only  one  race 
of  men  in  Scotland,  the  sixteen  tribes  north  of  Antonine's  wall,  and  the 
five  between  the  praetentures,  who  were  in  some  degree  civilized  by  the 
Romans.* 


The  Caledonians  and  Picts  were,  therefore,  from  all  that  is  related  by 
the  ancients,  from  the  investigations  of  modern  writers,  and  from  the 
undeniable  identity  of  language,  two  divisions  of  one  and  the  same  Cel- 
tic people;  and  I  see  no  objection  to  our  believing,  with  Innes,  that  the 
Picts  were  "the  first  known  people  of  the  North,"  although  it  is  not  so 
apparent  that  they  were,  as  he  says,  "the  second  in  order  of  time." 

*  Caledonia. 


CHAPTER  III. 

APPEARANCE  OF  THE  COUNTRY— EXTENT  AND  PRODUCTIONS  OF 
THE  ABORIGINAL  FORESTS. 

The  Western  side  of  Britain  is  mountainous,  the  east  and  south  parts 
are  champaign.  These  different  characters  are  striking,  and  have  long 
marked  the  territories  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  and  those  who  are  min- 
gled with  later  colonists.  The  same,  in  some  degree,  is  the  case  with 
Ireland.  ^ 

It  will  not  be  here  attempted  to  account  for  the  alluvial  discoveries 
made  throughout  these  islands,  or  hazard  an  explanation  of  various  re- 
markable appearances.  Whether  the  flood  of  Noah,  or  any  other  deluge 
or  convulsion,  has  produced  the  difference  between  the  former  and  pres- 
ent face  of  the  earth,  is  not  easy  to  be  ascertained,  but  a  singular  change 
has  certainly  taken  place.*  Traditions,  indeed,  do  exist,  that  the  Scil- 
lies,  and  many  other  islands,  were  formerly  connected  with  the  mainland; 
but  the  fact  appears  as  unsusceptible  of  positive  proof,  as  the  shock  that 
is  presumed  to  have  rent  Britain  from  the  continent. 

Throughout  the  Western  Isles,  the  Orkneys,  and  even  in  Shetland, 
the  discovery  of  large  trees  that  are  dug  from  the  mosses  or  bogs,  has 
led  to  an  opinion,  that  the  woods  must  have  existed  at  a  time  when  these 
islands  were  dissevered  from  Britain,  either  by  the  workings  of  the  ocean, 
or  a  sudden  disruption;  and  without  some  such  hypothesis,  "it  is  not 
easy  to  comprehend,  how  trees  could  grow  on  these  spots,  of  which  the 
extent  is  so  small,  and  under  circumstances  in  which  heath  will  scarcely 
now  attain  its  full  growth,  "t    Remains  of  woods  have  often  been  per- 


*  See  Brogniart's  Works,  &c. 

t  M'Culloch's  Description  of  the  Western  Islands,  ii.  p.  268. 


64 


FORMER  APPEARANCE  OF  BRITAIN. 


ceived  at  a  distance  from  cne  shores.  The  or-cioacliments  of  the  ocean 
were  very  remarkably  proved,  by  the  discovery  ot  a  thick  forest  in  the 
bay  of  Pulvash,  in  Man,  where  the  trees  were  exposed  after  a  violent 
storm.  Those  dug  up  on  land,  show  that  the  woods  of  that  island  have 
been  at  a  subsequent  period  overthrown  by  a  north-east  wind.  At  Ni- 
wegal,  near  St.  David's,  in  Wales,  Gir.  Cambrensis  says,  a  furious  tem- 
pest which  blew  away  the  sands  on  the  beach,  opened  to  view  a  forest, 
and  on  the  trunks  of  many  of  the  trees  the  mark  of  the  axe  was  visible. 
If  the  Triads  can  be  received  as  authority,  they  attest  the  formation  of 
Anglesea,  and  many  other  islands  on  the  western  coast,  by  the  bursting 
of  the  lake  Llion,  and  allude  to  a  period  when  the  Orkneys  were  but  few 
in  number. 

At  the  period  of  the  Roman  invasion,  from  which  we  must  date  all 
certain  information  respecting  Britain,  the  face  of  the  country  was  very 
different  from  what  it  has  since  appeared.  The  small  tracts  which  had 
been  cleared  of  wood,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  towns  or  strongholds,  and 
the  very  limited  patches  of  ground  appropriated  to  raise  a  portion  of 
corn,  were  insufficient  to  materially  affect  the  general  appearance  of 
nature  throughout  the  island. 

We  do  not  possess  so  satisfactory  data  respecting  the  country,  or  in- 
habitants of  Scotland,  as  illustrate  the  ancient  state  of  South  Britain; 
for  the  partial  knowledge  which  the  Romans  and  others  obtained,  re- 
specting the  regions  of  Caledonia,  did  not  enable  them  to  transmit  much 
information  concerning  this  distant  boundary  of  the  empire. 

A  better  climate,  a  less  rugged  country,  and  some  cohimercial  advan- 
tages, produced  a  certain  territorial  improvement,  and  consequent  me- 
lioration in  the  state  of  the  Southern  tribes.  A  greater  attention  to 
agriculture,  in  a  latitude  more  favorable  to  the  operations  of  husbandry, 
constituted  the  chief  difference  between  the  maritime  nations  of  South 
Britain,  and  the  aborigines  of  the  interior,  who  retained  their  primitive 
rudeness,  and  occupied  districts  where  the  face  of  nature  was  less 
changed  by  the  labors  of  human  industry. 

Where  the  dense  forests  spread  in  natural  wildness,  and  undisturbed 
luxuriance;  where  lakes  and  morasses  are  undrained,  the  land  unculti- 
vated, and  surrounded  by  vast  seas;  a  clouded  sky  and  a  moist  climate 
are  the  natural  effects,  and  are  very  unpleasantly  felt  by  those  who  have 
lived  under  the  azure  sky,  and  genial  climate  of  Italy.  The  frequent 
and  heavy  showers  that  fall  on  the  Western  coasts  are  most  remarkable, 
and  occasioned  a  facetious  gentleman  who  had  resided  several  weeks  in 
the  country,  during  which  he  never  experienced  a  dry  day,  to  ask  a 
person  whom  he  met  some  years  afterwards  on  the  continent,  "  whether 
it  had  yet  ceased  to  rain  in  Scotland?"  These  sudden  showers  brmg 
down  the  mountain  floods  with  a  velocity  that  often  occasions  the  loss  of 
flocks,  and  sometimes  of  human  life. 

The  Roman  historians  in  general  speak  of  Britain  as  extremely  un- 


OF  SCOTLAND. 


65 


pleasant,  *'damp  with  continual  showers,  aaJ  overcast  with  clouds,"* 
but  Cajsar  describes  the  climate  as  milder  than  that  of  Gaul.  Scotland 
is  represented  as  of  a  most  forbidding  aspect,  deluged  with  incessant 
rains,  and  clouded  with  exhalations  from  unwholesome  fens;  surrounded 
by  seas  that  raged  with  tremendous  fury,  and  forcing  their  billows  to  the 
centre  of  the  country,  foamed  among  the  inland  mountains. j"  The 
numerous  lochs,  or  arms  of  the  sea,  with  which  the  JVorthern  part  of 
the  island  is  indented,  give  some  propriety  to  this  description;  but  we 
must  regard  these  accounts  as  given  by  a  people,  who  had  an  imperfect 
knowledge  of  a  country,  in  which  they  never  made  any  permanent 
settlement,  and  who  exaggerated  the  details  to  magnify  their  military 
exploits;  yet  the  scenery  of  Caledonia  was  too  romantic  and  singular 
to  escape  observation.  Its  grandeur  struck  the  ancients  with  won- 
der, and  has  always  been  the  admiration  of  the  lovers  of  the  romantic 
picturesque. 

The  Grampians,  that  appear  an  impenetrable  barrier,  have  long  been 
considered  the  line  of  separation  between  the  well  known  divisions  of 
Highlands  and  Lowlands;  but  there  are  other  remarkable  features  that 
have  excited  particular  notice. 

The  Muir  of  Rannach,  a  district  in  Perthshire,  extending  from  the 
hills  of  Glen  Lyon  to  Ben  Nevis,  is  a  flat  desert  plain,  about  twenty 
miles  square,  surrounded  by  the  highest  mountains  in  Scotland.  So  well 
secured  by  nature  is  this  district,  that  it  was  wholly  inaccessible  to  the 
civil  power,  until  after  the  events  of  1745. 

Part  of  Assynt,  and  Edderachyllis  in  Sutherland,  forming  a  tract  of 
about  twenty-four  miles  by  eight  or  ten,  is  no  less  remarkable.  Although 
in  a  very  mountainous  country,  it  is  comparatively  plain,  but  rugged  and 
broken  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner,  and  may  be  described,  as  if 
hundreds  of  great  mountains  had  been  split  and  scattered  about  by  some 
violent  convulsion  of  nature. J  In  certain  parts  of  the  Highlands  the 
mountains  have  the  singular  appearance  of  being  composed  of  loose 
blocks  of  stone,  resembling  an  immense  cairn.  Some  of  the  woods  also 
are  not  unworthy  of  observation,  where  the  fir  is  seen  growing  on  the 
side  of  precipices,  where  no  soil  can  apparently  exist.  In  the  fissures 
of  the  rock,  this  hardy  tree  fixes  its  roots,  where  it  seems  impossible 
either  to  take  hold,  or  derive  the  requisite  nourishment;  yet  the  remains 
of  ancient  forests  are  seen  in  these  situations,  and  owe  their  preservation 
to  the  inaccessible  heights  on  which  they  are  placed.  The  mountain  of 
Ben  Lair,  in  Ross,  affords  a  remarkable  example,  and  the  rugged  hills 
of  Mar,  in  Aberdeenshire,  display  many  similar  appearances. 

Britain  is  described  by  the  ancients,  as  "  horrida  sylvis."  The  name 
of  Caledonia,  if  a  plausible  etymology  before  stated  §  is  deemed  con- 
clusive, proves  the  former  wooded  state  of  the  country,  which  is  more 
etrongly  attested  by  the  remains  dug  from  numerous  mosses,  and  various 

*  Vita  Agricolae,  c.  xiii.  t  Ibid, 

t  Roy's  Mil.  Ant.  p.  59.  §  Page  46 

9 


66 


ANCIENT  FORESTS  OF  SCOTLAND, 


local  names  derived  from  woods  that  have  now  disappeared.  Scotland 
has  so  long  been  denuded  of  its  ancient  forests,  that  their  existence  has 
been  doubted,  when  a  thousand  proofs  from  vestigia  met  with  in  almost 
every  district  evince  the  fallacy  of  such  a  supposition.  It  is  true  the 
Sylva  Caledonia  has  disappeared,  except  the  remains  that  are  seen  in 
llannach,  in  Mar,  in  Abernethy,  and  Laggan,  in  which  last  place  it  still 
retains  the  appropriate  name  of  Coilmore,  or  the  great  wood,  and  in  part 
of  Ross;  but  although  some  of  these  tracts  are  still  more  than  thirty 
miles  in  length,  they  are  but  a  small  proportion  of  a  wood,  which  once 
covered  the  whole  central  highlands. 

Many  forests  that  no  longer  remain,  or  are  reduced  to  a  stunted  copse 
wood,  are  mentioned  in  ancient  records.  From  these  we  ascertain  the 
existence  of  woods  that  formerly  covered  heaths,  which  beyond  all 
memory  of  man  have  presented  the  most  bleak  and  barren  aspect.*  The 
forests  that  were  around  Stirling,  Forfar,  Inverness,  Elgin,  Banff,  Ab- 
erdeen, and  Kintore,  that  overspread  Buchan,  Crimond,  Cabrach,  &c. 
&.C.,  are  often  noticed  in  ancient  deeds.  The  great  wood  of  Drumselch 
was  in  the  vicinity  of  Edinburgh,  and  Etterick  forest  has  long  given 
name  to  a  Sheriffdom.  Nor  was  South  Britain  much  less  encumbered 
with  woods;  from  Kent  to  Somerset,  was  one  continued  forest,  and  a 
dense  wood  extended  over  the  present  counties  of  Lincoln,  Nottingham, 
Derby,  Leicester,  Rutland,  and  part  of  Northampton. "f  Ireland  was 
overrun  with  woods;  and  the  first  employment  of  the  colonists  is  said  to 
have  been  clearing  the  land,  and  making  room  for  themselves;  and  those 
who  were  distinguished  by  their  activity  in  so  laudable  a  work  are  cele- 
brated in  the  national  histories. J  In  that  country  three  distinct  growths 
of  timber,  under  three  distinct  strata  of  moss,  are  discovered. §  In  the 
time  of  Cambrensis,  it  appears  to  have  been  still  full  of  thick  woods, 
some  of  which,  at  a  later  period,  exceeded  twenty  miles  in  length.  || 

The  British  woods  appear  to  have  contained  nearly  all  the  varieties 
of  trees  to  be  found  in  Gaul.  Tacitus  says  that  the  island  did  not  pro- 
duce the  vine  and  the  olive, IT  but  Cresar  excepts  the  fir  and  beech  also, 
^*  and  his  authority,  that  these  were  not  to  be  found  in  Britain,  would 
almost  repress  scepticism. 

The  beech  is  believed  to  have  been  unknown  before  the  Romans  had 
established  themselves;  but  from  its  British  or  Celtic  names,  Faighe  or 
Faghe,  the  latin  Fagus,  is  apparently  derived. 

That  the  fir  must  have  grown  plentifully  in  the  aboriginal  woods,  there 
is  abundant  proof:  fir  cones  are  dug  up  from  great  depths,  as  well  as  the 

*  See  the  Chartularies.    Rymer's  FcEdera.    Chalmer's  Caledonia,  &c. 

t  See  Whittaker's  Hist,  of  Manchester,  and  authorities. 

t  Leabhar  Gabhala.    Keating's  MSS.    Ogygia,  &c.  &c. 

§  Report  of  the  Commissioners  on  the  Bogs  of  Ireland. 

II  Derrick's  Image  of  Ireland,  1581. 

H  Vit.  Agric.  c.  xii. 

**  "  Practer  Fagum  atque  Abietem,"  not  Ficum,  as  some  read. 


PRODUCED  THE  YEW,  THE  OAK, 


67 


inuoense  ^^uiiks  of  the  trees  on  which  they  grew;  and  the  bogs  in  wnich 
dre  found,  being  in  some  cases  traversed  by  Roman  roads,  were 
certainly  formed  before  the  arrival  of  that  people.  The  remains  of  this 
hardy  tree  are  found  in  great  quantity  on  each  side  of  these  roads;  to 
make  which,  they  were  cut  down,  and  have  even  been  employed  in  their 
construction.*  But  CiEsar  has  been  vindicated  by  a  very  intelligent 
writer,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Highland  Society  of  Scotland,  who 
maintains  that  it  was  the  pitch  tree,  the  pinus  abies  of  Linnosus,  which 
Caesar  speaks  of,  and  by  no  means  the  Scots  fir,  which  is  really  a  pine.f 

The  Celtic  names  of  this  tree  bear  no  analogy  to  the  Latin  word,  from 
which  they  could  not  therefore  be  derived,  affording  a  proof  that  the  fir 
was  indigenous.  In  the  Gaelic,  the  fir  and  the  pine  are  called  Gius,  or 
Giumhus,  and  in  the  Irish  idiom  the  term  Finniduydh  is  also  used.  The 
fir  was  the  natural  production  of  this  country,  and  formerly  grew  spon- 
taneously in  Scotland,  and  the  Northern  parts  of  England.  The  ancient 
forests  of  North  Britain  appear  to  have  consisted  chiefly  of  this  tree,  and 
it  has  been  but  recently  lost  in  some  parts.  It  is  now  generally  repre- 
sented by  the  Highland  or  planted  fir,  in  the  opinion  of  the  late  Mr. 
Farquharson,  a  good  authority  on  this  subject, — his  estate  of  Invercauld 
comprising  many  thousand  acres  covered  with  this  tree,  the  remains  of 
the  Caledonian  forest.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  the  native  fir  is  much 
deteriorated  by  transplantation,  and  that,  to  preserve  its  quality,  nature 
should  be  followed,  and  the  seed  sown  where  the  tree  is  to  grow.  Some 
of  this  natural  wood  formed  the  roof  of  Kilchurn  castle,  in  Argyleshire; 
and  when  taken  down,  after  it  had  stood  above  three  hundred  years,  it 
was  found  as  fresh  and  full  of  sap,  as  newly  imported  Memel.J  The 
great  woods  of  Glenmore  and  Abernethy,  the  property  of  the  Duke  of 
Gordon  and  the  Laird  of  Grant,  are  reckoned  the  oldest  and  best  in 
quality  of  any  in  Scotland. 

The  yew,  in  Gaelic,  lubhar,  or  luthar,  grew  in  the  woods  of  Britain, 
where  the  names  of  many  places  are  presumptive  proof  that  it  is  indi- 
genous. 

The  oak,  called  Darach  by  the  Highlanders,  has  been  held  in  almost 
universal  estimation,  and  besides  its  importance  in  religion,  it  must  have 
been  valued  as  aflfording  a  coarse  food  to  the  primitive  barbarians.  The 
respect  with  which  the  Druids  regarded  it,  is  well  known;  even  the  Bo- 
mans  retained  that  veneration,  which  they  derived  from  their  remote  an- 
cestors. Pliny  attests  that  mast  trees  were  always  held  in  the  highest 
repute  by  that  people. § 

It  is  said  that  the  oak  was  confined  to  the  south  of  Perthshire,  the  fir 
being  the  tree  which  prevailed  northwards  of  that  division;  but  oaks  must 
have  formerly  grown  plentifully  all  over  Scotland,  and  even  in  the  Hebrides, 

*  Whittaker,  ut  sup. 

I  Dr.  Walker  on  Peat,  Trans,  ii.  p.  7.    The  picea,  or  pitch  tree,  the  Gauls  termed 
pades.    Pliny,  xvi.  40. 
+  Smith's  View  of  the  Agriculture  of  Argyle,  p.  156.  §  Lib.  xvi.  c.  3. 


68 


THE  ELM,  THE  BIRCH,  THE  POPLAR, 


there  being  scarcely  a  district  where  the  remains  of  the  trees  are  not  to 
be  found.  The  extensive  moss  of  Flanders,  in  Stirlingshire,  was  once 
the  site  of  a  considerable  forest  of  this  wood,  over  which  the  soil  has  ac- 
cumulated to  a  depth  of  twenty  feet.  A  rivulet  that  bounds  this  tract 
on  the  north  east,  has  exposed  on  its  banks,  trees  of  very  large  dimen- 
sions.* Its  usefulness  for  strength  and  durability  preserved  the  esti- 
mation which  this  tree  acquired  from  its  sacred  character.  The  Tri- 
ads inform  us,  the  birch,  the  oak,  and  the  buckthorn,  were  not  to  be  cut 
down  without  permission  of  the  lord  of  the  country.  The  oak  most  fre- 
quently appears  in  Scotish  grants,  for  the  erection  or  repair  of  buildings, 
the  wooden  work  of  all  public  and  private  edifices  of  consequence,  being 
composed  of  it.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First  are  many  donations  of 
oak  trees,  which,  in  his  assumed  character  of  lord  paramount  of  Scotland, 
he  bestowed  to  repair  the  damage  occasioned  by  his  cruel  wars.  Long- 
morgan,  now  a  barren  heath  near  Elgin,  was  then  covered  with  "the 
monarch  of  the  wood,"  and  at  the  head  of  Loch  Etive  are  still  to  be  seen 
some  of  these  trees,  whose  trunks  measure  from  twenty  to  twenty-five 
feet  in  circumference,  although  growing  in  a  thin,  arid,  rocky  soil.  The 
elm  is  said,  by  the  historian  of  Manchester,  to  have  been  introduced  by 
the  Romans,  but  it  rather  appears  to  have  been  indigenous;  and  from  its 
Celtic  name  Leamhan,  the  Latin  Ulmus  is  probably  derived.  In  the 
form  of  Ailm,  so  closely  resembling  its  English  name,  it  is  the  first  let- 
ter of  the  Gaelic  alphabet.  The  broad-leaved  sort  is  a  native  of  Scot- 
land; but  from  a  belief  that  the  bark  is  a  useful  application  for  burns,  it 
is  now  seldom  seen  of  a  large  sizcf 

The  birch,  Beithe,  in  Gaelic,  is  reckoned  a  native,  and  its  name  is 
given  to  the  letter  B.  The  Romans  are  said  to  have  introduced  the 
poplar,  the  plane,  the  box,  &.c.  Malcolm  Laing,  in  his  attempt  to  refute 
the  poems  of  Ossian,  asserts  that  the  first  was  not  anciently  known  in 
Scotland.  It  is  certainly  found  all  over  the  Highlands,  and  grows  in 
places  inaccessible  to  human  footsteps,  and  from  its  name,  Crithean,  de- 
rived from  Crith,  a  shaking  or  trembling,  so  unlike  the  latin  Populus,  it 
may  be  reasonably  considered  as  a  native  production.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  ash,  Uinseann  having  no  resemblance  to  Fraxinus,  and 
so  of  others,  as  the  holly,  Cuileann,  &c. 

In  the  lower  parts  of  Caithness,  a  county  that  does  not  seem  ever  to  have 
contained  much  wood,  the  vegetable  remains  usually  dug  up,  are  willow, 
hazel,  and  alder,  or  aller.  The  first  was,  most  hkely,  a  natural  product 
The  Celtic  willow  was  small  and  tender,!;  and  both  Gauls  and  Britons 
were  celebrated  for  the  manufacture  of  wicker  or  basket  work.  Its  name 
m  the  Highlands,  Seileach,  is  not  very  different  from  the  Latin  Salix, 
or  the  French  Saule.  The  second  was  also,  there  is  no  doubt,  a  native 
of  Britain;  from  its  Gaelic  name  Caltuin,  little  resembling  the  Roman 

*  Stat.  Account  of  Doune,  vol.  xx.  p.  19. 
t  Smith's  View  of  the  Agric.  of  Argyle,  &c. 
t  Pliny,  xvi.  37. 


APPLE,  CHERRY,  AND  VINE  TREES. 


69 


Corylus,  Buchannan  thought  the  term  Caledonia  arose.  From  the  third, 
Fearn,  the  names  of  many  places  in  Scotland  are  certainly  derived.  The 
juniper,  found  in  almost  all  countries,  could  not  have  anciently  been  un- 
known in  this.    In  the  Celtic  tongue  it  is  called  Aitin. 

Apple  trees,  if  not  indigenous  in  Britain,  were  very  early  imported 
by  the  colonies  from  Gaul,  where  they  bore  excellent  fruit.*  The  Heedui 
of  Somerset  are  supposed  to  have  been  particularly  attentive  to  their  cul- 
ture; and  Avalonia,  the  ancient  name  of  Glastonbury,  called  Awfallach, 
or  the  Orchard,  in  Welch,  f  is  derived  from  the  British  Aval,  an  apple, 
which  is  likewise  the  origin  of  Avalana,  the  name  of  a  place  in  the  north 
of  England,  and  Avalon  in  France. 

It  would  appear  from  a  passage  in  Ossian,  that  this  fruit  was  well 
known  to  the  Caledonians,  but  it  is  not  credible  that  Thule  should  abound 
in  apple  trees,  as  Solinus  writes,  in  the  third  century,  if  by  the  appella- 
tion is  to  be  understood  the  Orkney  or  Shetland  Islands.  This  term  is, 
however,  applied  by  many  to  the  north  east  part  of  Scotland,  and  the 
county  of  Moray  has  long  been  celebrated  for  its  mild  climate  and  fruit- 
ful soil.  Buchannan  says  it  surpassed  all  the  other  counties  of  Scotland 
in  its  excellent  fruit  trees,  and  although  not  now  so  famous  on  this  ac- 
count, it  still  retains  much  of  its  ancient  celebrity.  It  may  be  reasona- 
bly presumed,  that  those  trees  which  the  natural  woods  of  Britain  did 
not  contain,  were  brought  from  the  continent  by  the  early  colonists.  L. 
Lucullus  was  the  first  who  brought  cherries  from  Pontus,  about  seventy- 
two  years  before  Christ;  and  twenty-six  years  afterwards  they  were  car- 
ried to  Britain.J  Geen  trees  abound  in  some  parts  of  Banffshire,  where 
they  are  said  to  be  of  natural  growth. § 

The  vine  was  cultivated  by  the  Gauls,  who  possessed  several  peculiar 
sorts, II  at  a  very  early  period;  but  before  the  arrival  of  the  Romans,  it 
seems  to  have  been  unknown  in  Britain.  Although  there  were  numerous 
rineyards  in  England,  even  until  lately,  the  early  inhabitants  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  valued  this  fruit,  and  the  Scots  were  precluded  by  their 
climate  from  rearing  it.  The  eleventh  letter,  M,  is  called  Muin,  a  word 
that  is  indeed  translated,  a  vine,  but  is,  properly,  a  bramble,  or  thorn. "TT 

The  Northern  latitude  of  Scotland  does  not  allow  the  production  of 
many  fruits,  to  be  found  in  more  favored  countries,  yet  the  climate  is 
not  inimical  to  their  cultivation.  The  remains  of  aged  woods  are  found 
in  various  places  much  nearer  the  sea,  and  on  more  arid  and  exposed 
situations,  than  where  they  can  now  be  reared,  but  the  difficulty  seems  to 
arise,  at  present,  from  the  want  of  shelter  for  the  young  plantations;  the 
Highland  valleys  are  represented  as  peculiarly  congenial  to  the  raising 
and  perfection  of  fruit  trees.  Mr.  Leitch,  a  gardener,  who  writes  in 
1793,  from  Richmond,  in  Surrey,  declares  that  wood  strawberries,  black- 


*  Ibid.  XV.  20.  Whittaker. 
t  Pliny,  XV.  25. 
II  Pliny,  lib.  xiv.  23 


t  Roberts,  Whittaker,  &c. 

§  Agricultural  Report. 

H  Armstrong's  Gaelic  Dictionary. 


70 


DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  FORESTS. 


berries,*  8j.c.  &c.  ripen  more  early  in  these  valleys,  than  in  the  mildest 
parts  of  the  Low  Country,  and  assures  the  nobility  and  gentry,  that 
"there  are  vast  numbers  of  tracts  in  the  West  Highlands,  that  would 
ripen  apples  and  pears  better  than  any  in  the  Low  Countries  of  the 
kingdom."  "  These  Highland  glens,"  he  maintains,  "  are  the  very 
places  adapted  by  nature  to  raise  orchards  in."|  At  Dunrobin,  in  Suth- 
erland, apricot,  peach,  and  other  fruit  trees  thrive  well.  Walnuts  have 
ripened  at  Skibo;  and  at  Morvich,  in  the  same  county,  are  many  very 
old  pear  trees,  that  still  bear  good  crops,  of  excellent  quality. J  We 
learn  that  David  the  First,  about  1140,  used  to  employ  his  leisure  time 
in  cultivating  a  garden,  and  in  grafting  and  training  trees. ^ 

The  monks,  who  always  paid  particular  attention -to  the  good  things 
of  this  life,  while  preparing  themselves  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  next, 
had  usually  a  good  garden  stocked  with  fruit  trees  attached  to  their 
monasteries,  and  their  peaceful  life  enabled  them  to  cultivate  their 
grounds  with  much  success.  So  early  as  the  ninth  century,  the  clergy 
of  lona  had  prosperous  orchards,  which  were  destroyed  by  the  barbarous 
Norwegian  invaders. || 

Ireland  presents  many  instances  of  the  horticultural  spirit  of  these 
societies;  but  in  that  country  their  labors  were  assisted  by  a  fine  climate 
and  fruitful  land.  Caledonia  never  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  fertile 
soil;  but  as  the  late  much  respected  Sir  Alexander  MacDonald,  Chief 
Baron  of  the  Exchequer,  said  on  a  public  occasion,  "its  harvest  is 
inferior  to  none  in  the  rich  produce  of  a  manly  race,  and  the  fruits  of 
talents,  genius,  and  heroic  virtue. "IT 

The  British  forests  have  disappeared  from  various  causes.  In  the 
progressive  advance  of  civilisation,  and  perhaps  from  the  increase  of 
population,  considerable  tracts  must  have  been  from  time  to  time  clear- 
ed for  the  purposes  of  pasturage,  and  for  the  raising  of  corn,  which  the 
country  produced  abundantly.**  Sir  H.  Davy's  opinion  is,  that  the  trees 
on  the  outside  of  the  woods,  which,  from  a  free  exposure  to  the  sun  and 
air,  were  much  stronger  than  those  in  the  interior,  being  first  cut  down, 
the  rest  from  exposure  to  the  wind  were  overthrown,  and  hence  occa- 
sioned the  formation  of  the  bogs;  but  to  the  Roman  operations  in  this 
island  may  be  attributed  the  destruction  of  great  part  of  its  woods.  It 
was  a  settled  maxim  with  that  people  to  construct  roads,  and  thereby 
lay  open  all  countries  which  they  attempted  to  conquer,  or  that  had 
been  brought  under  their  subjection;  and  in  eradicating  the  British 
woods  they  had  an  additional  and  weighty  argument  for  its  expediency — 
the  shelter  which  they  afl?'orded  to  the  natives,  and  the  facilities  they 


*  The  blackberries  in  the  Highlands  are  much  superior  to  those  found  in  the  hedges 
of  England. 

t  Smith's  View  of  the  Agric.  of  Argyle.  t  Agric.  Report  for  Sutherland. 

§  Fordun's  Scotichronicon,  lib.  v  c.  59.  ||  Smith,  in  Stat.  Account,  x,  p.  543. 

9  Observations  on  the  Highlands.    1814.  **  Vit.  Agri.  xii 


DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  FORESTS. 


gave  for  the  exercise  of  that  desultory  and  destructive  mode  of  attack, 
for  which  the  people  were  so  celebrated.  The  trunks  of  the  trees 
which  they  felled,  were  found  useful  in  the  construction  of  their  Iters j 
where  they  were  carried  across  soft  and  boggy  ground,  and  they  are 
often  found  to  have  formed  the  ground  work  of  these  ways,  by  the  sides 
of  which  the  logs  they  did  not  require  are  often  discovered. 

So  early  as  the  age  of  Agricola,  the  industry  of  the  Romans  in  clear- 
ing the  country  of  its  woods  was  well  known,  and  was  bitterly  complained 
of  by  the  natives,  who  were  themselves  compelled  to  the  work.*  From 
this  policy,  wise  indeed,  but  almost  as  inefficient  as  the  erection  of  their 
vast  ramparts,  the  aboriginal  woods  of  Caledonia  suffered  material  en- 
croachments The  Emperor  Severus,  in  his  progress  northwards,  was 
particularly  active  in  demolishing  the  forests  which  protected  the  ene- 
mies of  Rome,  and  labored  with  such  diligence  in  clearing  them  away, 
that  it'is  believed  he  lost  a  considerable  number  of  his  troops  from  the 
fatigue  occasioned  thereby.  Numerous  remains  are  found,  which,  as 
they  lie  in  his  line  of  march,  and  as  both  roots  and  trunks  remain  on  the 
ground,  and  evince  that  the  trees  could  not  have  been  cut  down  for  sake 
of  the  land,  are  clearly  referable  to  this  expedition. 

In  the  moss  of  Logan,  in  the  parish  of  Kippen,  a  road  was  discovered 
twelve  feet  wide,  and  formed  by  the  trunks  of  trees  regularly  laid  across 
each  other;  and  north  of  the  river  Forth,  in  the  moss  of  Kincardine,  a 
road,  apparently  a  continuation  of  the  same  line,  has  also  been  discover- 
ed, of  a  similar  width  and  construction.! 

Many  extensive  bogs  in  Perthshire  are  found  to  have  originated  from 
the  labors  of  the  Romans  in  denuding  the  country  of  its  primteval  woods. 
The  clay  surface  underneath  the  moss,  which  bore  the  ancient  forest,  is 
found  to  be  thickly  strewed  with  the  trunks  of  huge  trees  lying  in  all  di- 
rections, beside  their  roots,  which  still  remain  firmly  fixed  in  their  orig- 
inal positions,  exhibiting  visible  marks  of  the  axe  by  which  they  fell.  J 

The  forests  of  Caledonia,  that  escaped  destruction  from  the  Romans, 
suffered  from  the  English  armies  in  subsequent  ages.  Partly  actuated 
by  a  similar  policy,  and  partly  from  the  spirit  of  rancor  attendant  on  civil 
and  predatory  warfare,  the  troops  of  King  Edward  were  accustomed  to 
set  fire  to  the  woods.  In  Fife,  they  were  destroyed,  to  deprive  robbers 
of  the  shelter  they  afforded;  and  those  in  the  north  that  belonged  to  the 
Cumins,  were  burned  on  the  defeat  of  their  faction  by  King  Robert 
Bruce. ^ 

In  Dumfries,  most  of  the  woods  appear  from  their  remains  to  have  been 
consumed  by  fire,  and  in  Caithness  they  all  appear  to  have  shared  the 
same  fate.||  It  is  believed,  in  the  Western  Islands,  that  the  forests  were 
set  fire  to  by  the  Norwegians  when  leaving  these  possessions. IT  Indeed, 
a  general  tradition  prevails  throughout  the  country,  that  the  woods  were 

*  Vit.  Agri.  xxxi,  t  Stat.  Account,  xviii. 

t  Stat.  Account,  xxi.  154.  §  Aberdeenshire  Agric.  Rep. 

II  Caithness  Agric.  Rep.  IT  Buchannan's  Western  Isles,  p.  24. 


72 


DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  FORESTS. 


burnt  in  an  extremely  hot  summer;  and  this  is  recorded  in  the  Welch 
Triads,  as  the  third  calamity  which  befel  Britain. 

In  Sutherland,  they  have  also  been  destroyed  by  conflagration;  and, 
according  to  a  tradition,  it  was  occasioned  by  a  witch,  or  magician,  from 
Denmark,  which  may  probably  allude  to  some  descent  of  the  eastern 
marauders,  who  frequently  paid  unwelcome  visits  to  that  part  of  the 
country.  The  trunk  of  a  fir  tree,  dug  up  in  the  higher  part  of  Kildonan, 
measured  seventy-two  feet  in  length,  and  was  of  proportional  thickness. 
The  appearance  of  the  root,  encrusted  with  charcoal,  proved  by  what 
means  it  had  been  levelled  with  the  earth.* 

It  is  probable,  that  conflagrations  occasionally  took  place  in  the  most 
remote  times.  From  the  wandering  and  unsettled  life  of  mankind,  the 
woods  were  in  danger  from  the  fires  of  the  houseless  natives.  Ossian 
compares  the  sons  of  Erin  after  a  defeat,  to  "  a  grove  through  which 
the  flame  had  rushed,  hurried  on  by  the  winds  of  the  stormy  night,  &c." 

The  preservation  of  the  ancient  forests  was  scarcely  considered  of  na- 
tional importance;  and  the  acts  of  the  Scots'  parliament  that  were  at 
last  promulgated  for  planting  trees,  seem  to  have  had  little  effect.  So 
late  as  the  commencement  of  last  century,  an  extensive  fir  wood  in  Ar- 
gyle  was  considered  of  so  little  value,  that  an  Irish  company  is  said  to 
have  purchased  it  for  a  sum  amounting  to  no  more  than  a  plack,  or  one- 
third  of  a  penny  per  tree.| 

The  increase  of  sheep  is  thought  to  be  a  chief  reason  of  the  decay  of 
the  ancient  forests.  Trees  do  not  now  grow  without  the  protection  of 
fences,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  the  pasture  has  sufl^ered  materially  where  the 
woods  have  been  destroyed.  From  these  various  causes,  in  many  dis- 
tricts the  landscape  is  destitute  of  this  valuable  and  pleasing  ornament. 

*  Sutherland  Agric.  Rep  t  Smith's  View  of  Agric.  of  Argyle. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CELTIC  POPULATION.— PERSONS  AND  DISPOSITIONS  OF  THE 
CELTS.— THEIR  MILITARY  EDUCATION  AND  INSTITUTIONS.— AN- 
ECDOTES  OF  THEIR  BRAVERY  AND  HEROISM.— EXPLOITS  OF 
THE  ANCIENT  CALEDONIANS  AND  PRESENT  SCOTS. 

Many  writers  of  distinguished  reputation  have  maintained,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  north  of  Europe  were  much  more  numerous  formerly 
than  they  are  now,  the  cold  of  these  regions  being  thought  more  favora- 
ble to  generation  and  conducive  to  robust  old  age,  than  the  warm  and 
enervating  climates  of  the  south.  There  appears  considerable  force  in 
this  argument,  which  is  supported  by  the  numerous  armies  which  we 
find  those  people  successively  pouring  forth;  but  the  inquiries  of  modern 
philosophers  into  the  causes  affecting  population  tend  to  an  opposite  con- 
clusion. It  seems  impossible  to  make  any  accurate  estimate  of  the 
numbers  of  ancient  nations,  for  "the  innumerable  swarms  that  issued, 
or  seemed  to  issue,  from  the  great  storehouse  of  nations,  were  multi- 
plied by  the  fears  of  the  vanquished  and  by  the  credulity  of  succeeding 
ages.  "*  It  is  also  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  on  emergencies,  every  man 
able  to  carry  arms  was  called  into  the  field,  and  on  all  occasions,  where 
military  glory  was  to  be  earned  or  national  liberty  and  independence  as- 
serted, the  Gauls  were  strikingly  impatient  for  the  combat. 

The  precarious  supply  of  food  in  those  rude  ages,  is  advanced  as  an 
argument  of  some  weight  against  the  probability  of  there  being  anciently 
so  dense  a  population  as  we  might  be  led  to  suppose;  but  there  was  then 
an  abundance  of  game  to  supply  the  want  of  extensive  cultivation,  and 
numerous  herds  of  domestic  cattle  afforded  a  plentiful  subsistence  to  the 
wandering  tribes. 

The  sumptuous  repasts,  and  variety  of  flesh  meats,  among  the  Gauls 
were  subjects  of  remark,  even  to  the  luxurious  Romans, for  they  had 
•'  the  fountains  of  domestic  felicity  within  themselves,  and  sent  out  plen- 

*  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  t  Diodorus  Sic.  &c. 

10 


74 


POPULATION  OF  ANCIENT  EUROPE. 


tiful  streams  of  happiness  over  almost  all  the  world."*  Whether  the 
Celtae  were  more  or  less  numerous  than  has  been  represented,  the 
means  of  subsistence  were  abundant  in  Gaul;  and  if  the  Britons  led  a 
less  pleasant  life  than  the  tribes  on  the  continent,  they  will  not  be 
found,  on  examination,  to  have  been  so  low  in  the  scale  of  civilisation 
as  many  are  disposed  to  believe.  The  Celtic  nations  have  been  always 
strongly  attached  to  their  primitive  mode  of  life,  and  averse  to  the  ad- 
mission of  any  change,  even  of  obvious  advantage,  especially  if  they 
conceived  it  had  the  least  tendency  to  effeminate  their  bodies  or  lessen 
the  temerity  and  contempt  of  death,  on  which  they  valued  themselves; 
but  they  were  not  certainly  either  "unable  to  raise  themselves  in  the 
scale  of  society,  or  incapable  of  industry  or  civilisation."!  Their  vari- 
ous attainments,  and  progress  in  arts  and  sciences,  will  be  elucidated  in 
the  respective  sections,  where  it  will  be  seen  that  from  these  "radical 
savages,"!  Greeks  and  Romans  learned  many  useful  and  ingenious 
arts. 

The  Celts  were  neither  "a  feeble  people,"!  was  their  population 
scanty.  Pausanias  says,  that  Thrace  alone  was  more  populous  than 
Gaul, J  and  Herodotus  had  affirmed,  that  the  Thracians  were  the  most 
numerous  people,  save  the  Indians  alone.  The  ancient  historians  repre- 
sent the  Celtic  migrations  as  occasioned  by  an  excess  of  population.  We 
learn  from  Csesar,^  that  the  Helvetians  made  war  from  this  cause;  and 
both  he  and  Diodorus  say,  that  the  population  of  Britain  was  innumera- 
ble. Tacitus  informs  us,  that  Anglesea  was  particularly  powerful  in  the 
number  of  its  inhabitants.  H  From  marks  of  cultivation  on  the  moun- 
tains, and  that  have  been  discovered  at  some  depth  underground,  it  is 
believed  that  Ireland  also  was  formerly  well  inhabited, IT  but  this  is  doubt- 
ful. Similar  indications  are  observed  in  Scotland,  and  the  Romans 
deemed  a  single  legion  sufficient  for  the  subjugation  of  that  island. 

"  Who  among  you,"  says  Titus  to  the  Jews,  "hath  not  heard  of  the 
great  number  of  the  Germans."**  It  was  the  chief  pride  of  these  na- 
tions to  be  surrounded  by  a  numerous  company  of  relations.  To  res- 
train generation  and  increase  of  children,  or  to  kill  new  born  infants, 
crimes  of  common  occurrence  amongst  more  civilized  nations,  were  by 
these  people  "reckoned  an  abominable  sin."|f  The  more  numerous 
one's  children  and  relations  were,  the  more  he  was  reverenced  and  es- 
teemed; among  the  Scandinavians,  however,  it  was  lawful  to  expose  in- 
fants, until  the  eleventh  century,  a  practice  little  calculated  to  make  this 
rountry  "the  great  storehouse  of  nations." 

Without  asserting  that  Europe  was  more  populous  2000  years  ago 
than  it  is  in  these  days,  which,  indeed,  does  not  appear  likely,  it  can  be 

*  Josephus,  Jewish  Wars,  ii.  c.  16.  §  4.  t  Pinkerton. 

t  Lib.  1.9  §  Bello  Gall.  v.  10. 

[I  Annals,  xiv.  IT  Molyneux,  ap.  Luckombe,  &c. 

"*  Josephus  in  the  Jewish  Wars. 

ft  Gordon's  Translation  of  Tacitus,  de  Mor.  Germ. 


CELTIC  ARMIES. 


76 


confidently  maintained,  that  the  inhabitants  were  not  thinly  spi  ead  along 
the  valleys  or  dispersed  among  the  mountains.  Dense  forests,  it  must 
be  allowed,  overspread  great  tracts  of  country,  but  a  sufficient  space  was 
left  uncovered,  in  which  numerous  tribes  lived  in  all  the  comfort  of  bar- 
barous enjoyment. 

In  the  works  of  the  ancients  may  be  found  statements  of  the  numbers 
of  the  Celtic  armies  at  particular  times.  The  various  legions  of  auxiliaries 
which  appear  in  the  Notitia  Imperii,  prove  that,  by  the  Roman  conquest, 
neither  Gaul  nor  Germany  were  depopulated,  notwithstanding  the  long 
and  sanguinary  struggles  which  the  natives  made  for  their  independence. 

When  Brennus  invaded  Greece,  he  carried  with  him  140,000  target- 
eers,  10,000  horse,  2000  carriages,  many  merchants,  and  a  great  mul- 
titude of  other  followers,  all  of  whom  perished:*  yet  he  led  an  army  of 
152,000  to  a  second  invasion,  and  61,000  horsemen."}"  iEmilius  routed 
the  Gauls  and  Celtre,  killing  40,000,  and  ravaged  their  country,  after 
they  had,  with  an  army  of  200,000  men,  twice  defeated  the  Romans. J 
The  Cimbri  invaded  Italy,  with  a  body  of  3,  or,  according  to  some, 
500,000  men,  besides  women  and  children. § 

When  the  Helvetii  endeavored  to  establish  themselves  in  Gaul,  they 
had  192,000  men  in  arms,  the  whole  number  that  set  out  on  the  expedi- 
tion, according  to  a  census  found  in  their  camp,  amounting  to  368, 000. || 

The  Suevi,  a  single  German  nation,  was  divided  into  100  cantons,  and 
could  bring  200,000  men  into  the  field. IT 

The  Boii,  according  to  Pliny,  on  the  authority  of  Cato,  had  112  tribes: 
m  Spain  he  enumerates  360  cities.  Buchannan,  who  cites  Strabo,  says, 
300,000  of  the  Celtse  bore  arms.  Cresar  reduced  under  the  Roman  obe- 
dience 400  nations  and  800  cities — the  whole  number  in  Gaul.**  Jose- 
phus  gives  them  315  nations  and  1200  cities.^l 

When  Ca3sar  was  preparing  to  attack  the  Belga?,  he  applied  to  the 
Rhemi,  a  friendly  people,  for  information  concerning  the  military  power 
of  that  division  of  the  Celtae.  The  Rhemi,  being  allied  "  by  kindred  and 
affinity,  knew  how  great  a  multitude  was  promised,"  and  gave  him  the 
following  list. 

The  Bellovaci  were  the  most  powerful  of  the  Belgic  confederates,  and 
could  bring  into  the  field  100,000  fighting  men;  on  the  present  occasion 
they  ofl?ered  but  60,000.  The  Suessiones  were  their  neighbors,  and 
had  formerly  been  the  leading  tribe;  they  now  offered  50,000.  The 
Nervii  also  promised  50,000;  the  Attrebates  15,000;  the  Ambiani  10,000; 
the  Morini  25,000;  the  Menapii  9000;  the  Caletes  10,000;  the  Velocas- 
ses  and  Veromandui  10,000;  the  Adnatici  29,000;  the  Condrusi,  Ebu- 
rones,  Caeraesi,  Paenani,  who  were  called  by  one  name,  Germans,  40,000, 
making  an  army  of  308,000  picked  men. 

*  Fragment.  Diod.  xxii.  i  Pausanias,  x.  19.  i  Frag.  Diod.  xxv. 

§  Plutarch,  &c.    Chatfield's  View  of  the  Middle  Ages.  ||  Bello  Gall. 

U  Bello  Gall.  Appian,  in  the  Celtic  Wars.  Plutarch, 

tt  Jewish  Wars,  ii.  16.  3. 


76 


CELTIC  ARMIES. 


At  the  same  time  another  convocation  of  the  Gauls  was  held,  at 
which  it  was  resolved  to  raise  a  fresh  army;  but  they  restricted  their 
force  to  such  a  number  as  might  be  easily  regulated,  and  find  the  means 
of  subsistence  with  facility.  They  accordingly  made  the  following  lev- 
ies.— The  iEduans  and  their  clients,  the  Segusians,  the  Ambivarets,  the 
Aulerci,  the  Brannovices,  and  the  Brannovii,  35,000.  The  Arvcrni  also 
35,000;  the  Eleutheri,  Cadurci,  GabaH,  Velauni,  Senones,  Sequani, 
Bituriges,  Xantones,  Rutheni,  and  Carnutes,  12,000;  the  Bellovaci 
10,000;  the  Lemovices  10,000;  the  Pictones,  including  the  Turones, 
Parisii,  and  Eleutheri  Suessiones,  32,000;  the  Ambiani,  Mediomatrici, 
Petrocorii,  Nervii,  Morini,  and  Nitiobriges,  35,000;  the  Aulerci-Ceno- 
manni  5000;  the  Atrebates  4000;  the  Bellocassi,  Lexovii,  Aulerci-Ebu- 
rovices  9000;  the  Raurici  and  Boii  30,000.  From  the  states  on  the  ocean, 
who,  by  their  custom,  are  called  Armoricae,  viz.  the  Curiosolites,  Rhe- 
dones,  Caletes,  Osisimii,  Lemovices,  Veneti,  and  Unelli,  each  6000.* 

Of  these,  240,000  foot  and  8000  horse  were  immediately  mustered, 
and  the  number,  we  are  told,  was  afterwards  increased.  In  the  ten 
years'  war  which  Ccesar  maintained  in  Gaul,  where  he  first  attacked  the 
Helvetii  and  Tigurige,  defeating  their  army  of  200,000,|  there  were 
slain  more  than  a  million  of  men,  and  as  many  were  taken  prisoners. J 

In  those  unsettled  times,  the  population  fluctuated  according  to  the 
events  of  the  frequent  wars.  It  appears  from  Strabo,^  that  before 
Caesar's  time  the  Belgae  had  but  30,000  fighting  men.  The  Nervii,  in 
their  desperate  contentions,  were  reduced  from  60,000  to  500. || 

The  army  of  Bondiuca  or  Boadicea,  after  the  destruction  of  London, 
amounted  to  230,000.11 

From  the  ruins  of  houses  throughout  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  Gene- 
ral Stewart  thinks  the  country  must  have  been  formerly  very  populous.  The 
same  has  been  conjectured  of  the  Lowlands,  it  must  be  confessed,  with- 
out satisfactory  proof;  yet  the  Scots  and  Picts  must  have  been  numerous, 
for  they  suffered  greatly  in  mutual  slaughters;  and,  about  the  beginning 
of  the  fourth  century,  they  had  to  contend  with  40,000  Roman  troops, 
besides  their  auxiharies.  Alexander  II.,  according  to  Matthew  Paris, 
was  able  to  raise  an  army  of  1000  horse  and  100,000  foot. 

The  Celtic  muster  rolls  are  exactly  similar  to  those  of  the  Clans  of 
Scotland.  *The  following  list  of  the  numbers  that  were  to  be  raised  for 
King  James,  in  1704,  may  not  be  uninteresting. 


Mac  Donalds   1800 

Mac  Phersons    700 

Mac  Kenzies  of  Seaforth   1200 

Mac  Leods    700 

Erasers   1000 


*  Bello  Gal.  vii.  69.  70. 

t  Ritson's  Mem.  of  the  Celts. 

II  Bel.  Gal.  ii.  3 


t  Appian  in  Bello  Celt. 
§  Lib.  iv. 

U  Henry,  Hist,  of  Britain 


MILITARY  FORCE  OF  THE  CLANS.  77 

Roses  of  Kilravock    500 

Rosses  of  Balnagowan    300 

Duke  of  Gordon    1000 

Grant  of  Balindalish                                               . .  300 

Steuart  of  Appiu    200 

Farquharsons                                                . .       . .  700 

Chishohns   200 

Mac  Dulothes    500 

Perth's  Highlanders    600 


9700 

Horse  of  Inverness  and  Moray  shires       . .  . .  1000 

General  Wade  gives  the  following  statement  of  the  Highland  forces  in 
1715,  who  were  engaged  in  the  rebellion: — 

The  Islands  and  Clans  of  the  late  Lord  Seaforth         . .       . .  3000 

Mac  Donalds  of  Slate    1000 

Mac  Donalds  of  Glengarry   800 

Mac  Donalds  of  Moidart   800 

Mac  Donalds  of  Keppoch   220 

Lochiel  Camerons  .  .       . .    800 

Tho  Mac  Leods,  in  all    1000 

Duke  of  Gordon's  followers    1000 

Stewarts  of  Appin   400 

Robertsons  of  Struan    800 

Mac  In  toshes  and  Farquharsons   800 

Mac  Ewens  in  the  Isle  of  Sky    150 

The  Chisholms  of  Strathglass    150 

The  Mac  Phersons      220 


11,140 

which  agrees  with  the  number  given  by  Rae 

The  following  clans,  he  adds,  for  the  most  part,  join- 
ed the  rebellion  of  1715,  without  their  superiors: — 

The  Athol  men   2000 

The  Braidalban  men    1000—3,000 


14,140 

The  under-written  clans  belonged  to  superiors,  then  believed  to  be 
well  affected  to  his  Majesty: — 

The  Duke  of  Argyle    4000 

Lord  Sutherland  and  Strathnaver    1000 

Lord  Lovat's  Frasers    800 

The  Grants    800 

The  Rosses  and  Munroes   700 

Forbes  of  Culloden    200 

Rose  of  Kilravock   300 

Sir  Archibald  Campbell  of  Clunes    200 


8000 


78 


PERSONAL  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  CELTS. 


It  would  appear  that  the  number  which  the  disaffected  could  bring  into 
the  field  in  the  last  rebellion,  was  12,000,*  and  the  others,  it  is  believed, 
could  bring  nearly  as  many. 

The  song  called  the  Chevalier's  Muster  Roll,  contains  an  enumeration 
of  the  various  chiefs  and  tribes  who  were  to  take  the  field,  and  was  well 
calculated  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  party,  by  the  prospect  of  numer- 
ous reinforcements.    The  following  verse  is  a  specimen. 
"  The  Laird  o'  Mac  Intosh  is  cumin', 
Mac  Gregor  an'  Mac  Donald's  cumin'. 
The  Mac  Kenzies  an'  Mac  Pherson's  cumin', 
A'  the  wild  Mac  Ra's  are  cumin', 
Little  wat  ye  fa's  cumin', 
Donald  Gun  an'  a's  cumin,"  &c. 
The  patriarchal  state  of  society  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  where 
a  whole  tribe  labored  and  lived  in  common,  was  calculated  to  increase 
the  population  very  rapidly.    A  farm  was  often  subdivided  among  chil- 
dren, grandchildren,  and  other  relations,  until  it  became  quite  inade- 
quate for  the  comfortable  support  of  all.    The  evil  was  fortunately 
counteracted  by  the  military  spirit  which  led  the  young  Gael  to  seek 
their  fortunes  in  military  service,  either  at  home  or  abroad. 

The  population  of  the  Highlands  and  Isles  is  now  estimated  at  about 
400,000.  It  is  sometimes  stated  at  200,000;  but  if  there  are  80,000 
families  who  speak  Gaelic,!  and  if  5J  is  the  average  number  of  individ- 
uals in  a  family, J  the  exact  amount  will  be  420,000. 

In  the  Gartmore  MSS.,  which  give  a  low  estimate  of  the  population, 
it  is  stated,  that  in  1747,  nearly  52,000  able  men  from  the  age  of  eighteen 
to  fifty-six  could  be  raised. 

The  STRONG  and  robust  bodies  of  the  Celtae,  their  comeliness  and 
great  strength,  have  been  remarked  by  all  ancient  authors  who  have  had 
occasion  to  notice  them.  These  qualifications  must  have  b.een  produced 
by  a  sufficient  supply  of  food,  by  their  temperance,  and  by  the  freedom 
and  activity  of  their  lives:  hunting,  pasturage,  agriculture,  and  athletic 
amusements,  being  almost  their  sole  occupations,  when  not  engaged  in 
warfare. 

Both  Celts  and  Germans  were  remarkably  tall.  They  surpassed 
all  other  men  in  stature;  and  the  largest,  who  were  called  Barenses, 
inhabited  the  extreme  and  most  cold  parts. §  The  lowest  of  the  Ger- 
mans  were  taller  than  the  tallest  Romans.  Hieronymus  says,  Gaul  al- 
ways abounded  in  great  and  strong  men,||  who  were  wont  to  ridicule 
other  people  on  their  diminutive  size. IT  The  Senones  were  particularly 
remarkable,  being  terrible  for  their  astonishing  bigness  and  vast  arms. 
The  Insubres  are  described  as  more  than  human.**  The  Britons  appear 

*  Stuart  Papers,  ii.  p.  117.  t  "  The  Scotsman  "  of  12th  January,  1828. 

t  Dr.  Mac  Culloch.  §  Pausanias,  i.  35,  x.  20 

II  Ap.  Schoepflin's  Alsatia  Illustrata,  i.  67. 

IT  Homines  tantulee  statursB.  **  Florus,  i.  13,  ii.  4. 


THEIR  STATURE  AND  STRENGTH. 


79 


to  have  exceeded  even  the  Gauls  in  height.  Tacitus  remarks  the  large 
limbs  of  the  Caledonians;  and  some  prisoners  that  Caesar  carried  to 
Rome,  were  exhibited  as  curiosities  for  their  prodigious  size.  Strabo 
indeed  says,  that  he  had  seen  British  young  men  at  Rome,  who  stood 
half-a-foot  above  the  tallest  men;  but  such  giants  were  not  perhaps 
usually  met  with,  for  he  confesses  that  they  were  not  particularly  well- 
proportioned  The  Celts  were,  however,  generally  admired  for  their 
fine  figures,  as  we  learn  from  Polybius,  Arrian,  and  others.  Tacitus 
notices  the  advantage  which  this  height  gave  the  enemy  on  occasion  of 
crossing  a  river:  while  the  Romans  were  in  risk  of  being  swept  away, 
the  Germans  could  keep  themselves  easily  above  water.*  These  people 
were  celebrated  for  their  strength,  their  stature,  and  their  huge  sinewy 
bodies,!  the  Romans  being  certainly  of  inferior  size  compared  with  the 
barbarians. 

From  returns  made  to  the  French  government,  it  appears  that  the 
stature  of  the  people  has  suffered  a  decrease  during  the  late  wars;  and 
an  ingenious  train  of  argument  has  been  deduced  to  show,  that  while 
war  has  a  tendency  to  lessen  the  size  of  mankind  in  refined  nations,  it 
has  a  directly  contrary  effect  among  tribes  of  rude  barbarians.  These 
people  take  the  field  en  masse;  but  in  civilized  countries,  the  full  sized 
and  able  bodied  men  in  the  community  are  sent  to  fight  for  the  general 
safety:  the  army  when  reduced  being  filled  up  by  successive  levies  of 
the  most  robust  individuals;  hence  the  best  men  are  sacrificed,  while 
the  unhealthy  and  diminutive  escape.  Among  primitive  nations  the 
combatants  encounter  hand  to  hand,  where  the  advantage  being  evident- 
ly on  the  side  of  the  strong,  they  will  survive,  while  the  weak  inevitably 
perish.  This  reasoning  is  specious,  but  it  is  not  altogether  satisfactory. 
Are  we  to  consider  this  as  the  sole  cause  of  the  variation  of  stature  in 
the  human  race?  So  remarkable  a  difference  between  the  personal  ap- 
pearance of  the  Celtae  and  other  nations,  could  not  have  been  produced 
by  warfare  alone. J  A  tall  man  is  not  always  strong,  or  able  to  undergo 
much  fatigue,  and  even  if  his  strength  is  proportionate  to  his  size,  it  does 
not  always  render  him  able  effectually  to  contend  with  the  activity  and 
hardihood  of  one  who  may  be  much  inferior  in  stature. 

Amongst  the  Celtic  nations,  military  glory  was  that  to  which  they 
most  ardently  aspired,  and  of  their  warlike  prowess  they  were  excessive- 
ly vain.  To  distinguish  themselves  by  deeds  of  valor  and  heroism,  it 
was  necessary  to  possess  strength  of  body,  and  train  themselves  by  a 
life  of  activity  and  enterprise.  The  peculiar  state  of  society  in  which 
they  lived,  was  admirably  calculated  to  promote  military  qualifications, 
and  preserve  the  advantage  which  nature  had  bestowed  on  the  race,  who 
were  so  well  formed  and  healthy.  Their  simple  institutions  were  emi- 
nently conducive  to  the  spirit  of  liberty  with  which  they  were  animated, 


*  Annals,  v.  t  Josephus  Jew.  Wars,  ii.  vi.  and  vii. 

t  An  article  on  this  subject  appeared  in  the  "  Scotsman,"  xii.  p.  899. 


80  THEIR  STATURE  AND  STRENGTH. 

and  by  which  their  physical  strength  was  assisted;  and  as  they  could 
only  hope  for  distinction  from  proofs  of  valor  and  fortitude,  they  did  not 
degenerate  as  nations  who  become  commercial,  or  are  enervated  by  a 
warm  climate.  As  the  Celts  tenaciously  retained  their  primitive  man- 
ners, their  personal  appearance  was  not  altered,  but  continued  to  attract 
the  notice  of  surrounding  nations. 

Slow  and  late  were  the  youth  to  marry,  and  when  they  did,  it  was 
requisite  that  both  parties  should  have  the  same  sprightly  dispositions, 
and  the  same  stature.  They  were  espoused  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  the 
robustness  of  the  parents  was  inherited  by  the  children.* 

The  regard  which  the  Highlanders  have  always  paid  to  the  personal 
appearance  and  manly  qualities  of  their  children,  has  been  often  re- 
marked. Next  to  beauty  in  a  female,  her  health  and  person  is  always 
considered.  "A  puny  delicate  girl  hardly  ever  gets  a  husband  in  the 
Highlands,  because  she  neither  can  be  the  mother  of  a  vigorous  proge- 
ny, nor  do  her  part  in  providing  for  them." 

Tall  as  the  Celtae  generally  were,  the  princes  and  chief  men  usually 
exceeded  the  common  people,  both  in  stature  a^d  strength;  for  beauty 
and  stateliness  of  person  were  generally  characteristic  of  nobility  in  ear- 
ly society,  and  naturally  proceeded  from  the  constitution  of  a  rude  com- 
munity, where  superior  strength  and  warlike  accomplishments  are  the  only 
recommendations  in  a  chief  or  leader,  and  as  they  intermarry  with  families 
enjoying  similar  advantages,  the  race  does  not  degenerate.  Like  the  nobil- 
ity of  later  times,  the  principal  families  in  a  tribe  must  have  been  exempt- 
ed, in  a  great  measure,  unless  during  war,  from  those  labors  and  privations 
which  the  lower  orders  endure.  In  the  infancy  of  society  there  is  little 
chance  of  degenerating  from  luxury;  we  consequently  find,  that  most  of 
the  Celtic  heroes  were  above  the  common  standard.  Numerous  discov- 
eries in  ancient  sepulchres  prove  the  gigantic  size  and  strong  conforma- 
tion of  individuals.! 

Teutabochus,  king  of  the  Teutoni,  who  invaded  Italy,  with  the  Cim- 
brians,  being  taken  prisoner,  was  conspicuous  above  the  trophies,  from 
his  extraordinary  tallness.  He  was  also  of  astonishing  strength  and 
agility,  being  able  among  other  feats,  to  vault  over  six  horses. J  The 
old  kings  of  Caledonia  are  described  as  very  superior  in  stature  and 
strength.  Trenmhor,  like  Fingal,  was  tall  and  mighty,  and  all  tradition 
proves  the  value  in  which  these  qualifications  were  held.  Among  the 
Gael,  symmetry  of  form  and  bodily  strength  were  accounted  so  indispen- 
sable, that  as  anxious  attention  was  paid  to  preserve  and  improve  the 
breed  of  children,  as  ever  was  bestowed,  in  more  refined  ages,  on  less 
noble  animals;  but  this  object  was  attained  more  through  the  healthful- 
ness  and  temperance  of  the  parents,  than  from  any  particular  care  in  the 

*  Tacitus  de  mor.  Germ.,  who  elsewhere  notices  their  huge  stature. 

t  Montfaucon  gives  an  account  of  an  interment  where  the  skulls  were  found  to  be 
much  thicker  than  in  mankind  at  the  present  day.  See  also  the  discoveries  of  Sir 
Richard  Hoare,  &c.  &c.  &c.  X  Floras  iii.  3. 


1 


MODES  OF  REARING  CHILDREN. 


81 


education  of  the  children,  for  the  son  of  the  ciiief  had  no  more  attention 
paid  him  than  was  bestowed  on  his  foster-brother. 

The  Germans  made  no  distinction  between  the  lord's  son  and  the 
slave;  they  were  both  reared  naked,  and  nourished  with  the  milk  of  their 
own  mothers. 

The  wet  nurses  in  the  Isles  were  not  allowed  to  drink  ale,  from  a  be- 
lief that  the  milk  was  thereby  deteriorated. 

The  Irish  children,  as  soon  as  born,  were  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  and  so 
continued  until  they  could  walk.* 

The  Highlanders  bathe  their  children  every  morning  and  evening  in 
cold,  or,  sometimes,  in  warm  water:  and  they  did  so  for  themselves  when 
they  grew  up.|  The  cold  water  rendered  them  less  susceptible  of  the 
piercing  blasts  to  which  they  were  exposed.  It  is  customary  with  those 
who  wear  the  kilt,  to  wash  their  limbs  at  least  every  morning,  and  when 
one  assumes  this  dress  only  occasionally,  some  recommend,  as  a  pre- 
ventive from  catching  cold,  that  the  legs  should  be  anointed  with  whis- 
key. The  Gaelic  youth  of  the  better  sort  were  not  accommodated  with 
bonnets,  shoes,  or  stockings,  even  in  the  rigor  of  winter,  until  they  were 
eight  or  ten  years  old,  and  upwards. 

The  Celts  were  not  only  tall,  but  were  well  formed.  Amongst  the 
Highlanders,  it  has  been  remarked,  that  there  are  hardly  any  crooked 
or  deformed  people,  except  from  accident,  and  some  have  asserted  that 
they  never  saw  a  naturally  misshapen  person  in  the  Highlands.  The 
people  of  Scotland  have,  generally,  an  aversion  to  persons  who  have  any 
natural  defect,  believing  them  unlucky,  and  marked  out  for  misfortune; J 
a  prejudice  that,  if  not  occasioned,  may  be  strengthened  by  the  rare- 
ness of  these  objects. 

The  common  Highlanders,  from  hard,  and  often  scanty  fare,  are  usu- 
ally inferior  in  stature  to  the  chief  and  better  sort.  This  was  more 
perceptible  formerly;  but  although  few  have  attained  the  gigantic  size  of 
"Big  Sapn,"  a  native  of  Sutherland,  who  was  porter  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  they  are  by  no  means  diminutive.  They  are  well  formed,  ex- 
tremely hardy  and  active.  Their  erect  and  easy  gait  is  striking;  and  an 
English  resident  among  them,  a  hundred  years  ago,  remarked  that  the 
common  people  walked  "nimbly  and  upright,  and  had  a  kind  of  stateli- 
ness  in  their  poverty."^  The  Irish  were  noticed,  two  centuries  since, 
as  being  "  of  good  proportion  and  comely  stature;"  ||  but  the  personal 
appearance  is  so  much  affected  by  the  supply  of  food,  and  manner  of  life, 
that,  like  the  Scots,  they  have  not,  latterly,  been  so  remarkable  for  their 
size. IT     Tyrconnel,  at  the  revolution,  raised  several  regiments,  every 

*  Campion. 

t  Martin.  Memoirs  of  Donald  Macleod.  Children  among  the  Goths  were  dipped  in  a 
stream  or  lake  soon  after  their  birth.  Pinkerton. 

t  This  seems  to  arise  from  a  belief  that  the  fairies  have  something  to  do  with  them. 
See  one  of  Kelly's  proverbs.  §  Birt.  ||  Barnaby  Riche. 

ULuckc^imbe  says,  on  the  authority  of  a  military  officer,  that  Irish  recruits  were,  in 

genera],  shorter  than  those  of  England. 

11 


83 


HARDINESS  OF  THE  HIGHLANDERS. 


man  of  which  was  six  feet  high.*  It  was  accounted  handsome  hy  the 
Irish  ladies,  to  be  tall,  round,  and  fat,|  but  they  were  also  "big  and 
lazy,"  being  suffered  from  their  youth  "to  grow  at  will."  The  ancient 
Britons,  we  are  told,  excelled  both  in  strength  and  swiftness.  J 

The  Celts  were  undoubtedly  very  strong,  but  they  were  extremely 
oppressed  by  the  heat  of  a  warm  climate,  and  suffered  much  from  thirst; 
for  they  were  able  to  endure  a  degree  of  cold  that  would  chill  other 
troops,  but  were  languid  and  feeble  under  the  rays  of  an  Italian  sun.  ^ 

The  hardy  manner  in  which  the  Celts  brought  up  their  youth,  contri- 
buted, in  a  very  material  degree,  to  produce  their  strong  and  robust 
frames,  and  enabled  them,  through  life,  to  contend  with  all  sorts  of 
fatigue,  and  surmount  difficulties,  which  others  would  have  sunk  under. 
The  Cimbri  exposed  themselves  naked  to  showers  of  snow,  and  amused 
themselves  by  sliding  down  the  frozen  Alps  on  their  shields.  The  in- 
difference of  the  Highlanders  to  cold,  is  evinced  by  their  scanty  clothing. 
A  less  equivocal  proof  was  formerly  afforded,  in  the  fact  that  they  fre- 
quently slept  in  the  open  air,  during  the  severity  of  winter.  Burt,  who 
wrote  in  1725,  relates,  that  he  has  seen  the  places  which  they  occupied, 
and'  which  were  known  by  being  free  from  the  snow  that  deeply  covered 
the  ground,  except  where  the  heat  of  their  bodies  had  melted  it. 

The  anecdote  which  the  same  writer  applies  to  Keppoch,  and  others, 
to  a  chief  of  the  Camerons,  shows  how  highly  they  valued  themselves 
on  their  hardihood.  The  chief  is  represented  as  giving  great  offence  to 
his  clan,  by  forming  the  snow  into  a  pillow  before  he  lay  down,  a  plain 
indication  that  he  was  beginning  to  degenerate. 

The  Highlanders  were  so  accustomed  to  sleep  in  the  open  air,  that 
the  want  of  shelter  was  of  little  consequence  to  them.  It  was  usual  be- 
fore they  lay  down,  to  dip  their  plaids  in  water,  by  which  the  cloth  was 
less  pervious  to  the  wind,  and  the  heat  of  their  bodies  produced  a  warmth, 
which  the  woollen,  if  dry,  could  not  afford.  An  old  man  informed  me, 
that  a  favorite  place  of  repose  was  under  a  cover  of  thick  over-hanging 
heath.  The  Highlanders  in  1745  could  scarcely  be  prevailed  on  to  use 
tents.  It  is  not  long  since  those  who  frequented  Lawrence  fair,  St 
Sair's,  and  other  markets  in  the  Garioch  of  Aberdeenshire,  gave  up  the 
practice  of  sleeping  in  the  open  fields.  The  horses  being  on  these  oc- 
casions left  to  shift  for  themselves,  the  inhabitants  no  longer  have  their 
crop  spoiled,  by  their  "upthrough  neighbors,"  with  whom  they  had 
often  bloody  contentions,  in  consequence  of  these  unceremonious  visits. 

Strabo  and  Polybius  notice  that  the  Celts  and  Iberi  always  slept  on 
the  ground,  even  in  their  houses,  a  custom  which  the  Scots  and  Irish 
retained.  If  the  Highlanders  went  into  other  countries,  they  preferred 
wrapping  themselves  in  their  own  plaids,  to  making  use  of  the  beds  of 
the  people  among  whom  they  came,  apprehensive  that  such  indulgence 
would  tend  to  impair  their  natural  hardiness. 

*  Dalrymple's  Mem.  of  Great  Britain.  t  Campion. 

+  Herodian,  iii.  47. 

§  Floras,  ii.  4.    Plutarch,  in  vita  Crassi.    Appian,  Parthick's.  Livy. 


THE  HAIR  OF  THE  CELTS.  83 

The  HAIR  of  the  Celtic  race  was  naturally  fair  or  inclined  to  red,  and 
they  took  great  pains  to  deepen  the  color.  The  children,  from  their 
birth,  were  for  the  most  part  white  or  gray  headed,  but  as  they  grew  up 
the  hair  became  like  that  of  their  fathers.*  Among  the  Britons  it  was 
also  yellow,  but  it  was  less  so  than  that  of  the  Gauls. f  The  Welsh  call- 
ed the  Irish,  Wyddil  coch,  red-haired.  J  In  an  old  poem  we  find  a  he- 
ro's "  body  like  the  white  chalk,  his  hair  like  the  flowing  gold;"  and  an 
old  Cornish  song  extols  a  pretty  maid  for  her  white  face  and  yellow  hair.^ 
Flowing  locks  of  this  color  were  praised  as  most  graceful  and  becoming, 
by  the  bards  who  addressed  the  sun  as  "  the  golden-haired."  This  was 
admired  in  the  Celtic  youth  of  former  times,  and  "the  yellow-haired 
laddie"  and  "lassie  w^'  the  lint  white  locks,"  continue  favorites  with 
their  descendants  in  the  present  day. 

The  red-haired  Spaniard  is  noticed  by  Silius,||  the  Getae  plaited  their 
yellow  locks,  and  the  Albani  glistened  with  shining  hair.TF  The  Budini, 
who  were  a  Getic  nation,  had  also  the  red  hair  and  blue  eyes,**  which 
characterized  the  whole  Celtic  race.  They  wore-  their  hair  long  and 
flowing,  from  which  Gaul  received  the  appellation  Comata,  or,  as  Pliny 
more  strongly  expresses  it,  Capillata.tt  They  turned  it  backwards  from 
the  forehead  to  the  crown,  and  thence  to  their  very  necks,  that  their 
faces  might  be  fully  seen.  From  this  manner  of  wearing  it  they  look, 
says  Diodorus,  like  Fans  and  Satyrs. 

The  Caledonians  were  distinguished  by  "their  golden  hair  flowing 
over  their  stately  shoulders."  The  long  hair  of  the  Britons  was  turn- 
ed back  on  the  top  of  the  head,  and  fell  down  in  a  bushy  wreath  behind. §^ 
Bondiuca,  or  Boadicea's  hair  reached  below  the  middle  of  her  back. 

Long  hair  was  a  mark  of  freedom  among  many  nations,  slaves  being 
obliged  to  cut  it  close.  In  France  it  was  long  regarded  as  indicative  of 
nobility. nil  In  the  old  laws  of  Scotland  is  a  curious  intimation,  "  Quhen 
ane  frie  man  to  the  end  he  may  have  the  mantenance  of  one  greit  and 
potent  rrjfin,  randers  himselfe  to  be  his  bondman  in  his  court,  be  the  haire 
of  his  foreheid,"  he.  This  is  surely  derived  from  a  more  ancient  era 
than  that  of  the  regulated  feudal  system.  The  act  proceeds  to  say,  that 
if  the^rnan  should  afterwards  withdraw,  when  brought  back,  and  the  sur- 
render of  his  liberty  proved,  "  his  maister  may  take  him  be  the  nose,  and 
reduce  him  to  his  former  slaverie."  ITIT 

Lycurgus  was  accustomed  to  say,  that  long  hair  added  grace  to  hand- 
some men,  and  made  those  who  were  ugly  more  terrific.     The  long^ 


*  Diod.  Sic.    Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10.    Tacitus.    Claudian  in  Rufinum,  iii. 

t  Lucan.    Strabo.    Csesar.  t  Roberts. 

§  Pryce's  Archaeologia.  Ij  Lib.  xvi.  v.  471. 

IT  Isodore,  xix.  23.  Herodotus. 

tt  Lib.  iv.  c.  17.  tt  "Am  follt  oir  mu  an  gu  aillean  ardo. 

§  §  Whittaker's  Hist,  of  Manchester.  ||  ||  Gregory  of  Tours. 

TTIT  Quoniam  Attachiamenta,  Ivi.  Dr.  Jamieson  has  remarked  a  vestige  of  this  siiv 
gular  custom  in  the  amusement  of"  Tappie  tousie,"  still  practised  among  the  Scots 
children.    Etymol.  Diet. 


84 


MODE  OF  WEARING  THE  HAIR. 


shaggy  hair  of  the  Gauls  imparted  a  terrible  appearance  as  they  ragea 
about  in  the  field  of  battle.* 

The  Suevi  had  a  mode  of  wearing  their  hair,  which  was  imitated  by 
some  of  the  other  Germans,  but  among  these  the  practice  was  confined 
to  the  youth.  It  was  twisted  in  a  peculiar  way,  and  bound  up  in  a  knot, 
and  so  fond  were  the  Suevians  of  this  ornament,  that  even  when  gray 
haired,  they  continued  to  raise  it  back  in  a  stern  and  imposing  manner, 
but  with  some  it  was  only  tied  at  the  top  of  the  head.  The  princes  paid 
more  attention  to  this  arrangement  of  their  hair  than  the  common  peo- 
ple, carefully  disposing  it  when  going  to  war,  in  order  to  increase  their 
height,  and  terrify  their  enemies.!  Each  tribe  had  perhaps  a  peculiar 
fashion  of  wearing  their  hair. J  The  head  which  appears  at  the  end  of 
the  first  chapter,  is  from  a  shield  of  the  Brisigavian  auxiliaries,  and  the 
one  here  shown  is  from  an  antique  discovered  in  Holland, § 


The  two  figures  which  form  the  vignette  to  this  chapter  are  from  an  an- 
cient sculpture,  and  illustrate  the  peculiar  mode  of  dressing  the  hair, 
which  Martial  calls  the  "  Auris  Batavorum ;  "||  and  the  one  at  the  end 
represents  a  figure  in  Montfaucon,  of  unknown  antiquity. 

The  Catti,  who  were  hardy,  robust,  and  of  stern  countenance,  let 
their  beards  and  hair  grow  to  a  length  rarely  to  be  seen  amongst  other 
nations.  This  practice  was  usually  in  consequence  of  a  vow,  that  they 
should  not  cut  the  hair  of  their  heads  or  beards  until  they  had  slain  ono 
of  their  enemies.  When  they  had  been  fortunately  able  to  do  this,  they 
made  bare  their  face  over  the  gory  body,  and  said  that  now  they  had 
acquitted  themselves  of  the  debt  contracted  by  their  birth,  and  rendered 
themselves  worthy  of  their  country  and  their  parents. U  Thus  when 
Civilis  who  headed  an  extensive  revolt  of  the  Germans,  had  routed  the 
Roman  legions,  we  are  told  that  "he  cut  off  his  long  locks,  lank  and 
red."**  But  many  of  the  Catti  presented  this  terrible  aspect  when 
white  with  age,  abating  nothing  of  the  grimness  and  horror  of  their 
countenances  even  in  peace.  These  sturdy  veterans  always  occupied 
the  front  of  the  army,  and  made  the  first  assault. TT  They  were  indeed 
a  peculiar  band,  for,  avoiding  the  trouble  of  any  domestic  charge,  and 

*  Amm.  Mar.  xvi.  10.  t  Tacitus,  de  mor.  Germ. 

+  "  Crinibus  in  modum  tortis  venere  Sicambri."  Martial,  ap.  Wolfgang 

§  Petri  Serverii,  Tab.  Ant.  Batavicarum. 

II  Caniegetier's  Diss,  de  Brittenburgo,  &c.  1734. 

IT  Tacitus,  de  mor.  Germ.  **  Tacitus  Anna!. 


MODE  OF  WEARING  THE  HAIR. 


85 


possessing  no  house,  they  wandered  about  "  sorning  "  on  the  other 
members  of  the  community,  on  whom  they  appear  to  have  thought  they 
had  a  good  claim  for  subsistence  as  long  as  they  lived.  f 

The  Britons  and  inhabitants  of  Ireland  wore  their  hair  long,  and  al- 
lowed their  beards  to  grow  only  on  the  upper  lip.  Even  until  a  later 
period,  the  Irish  strictly  adhered  to  this  ancient  practice,  which  was  at 
last  abolished  by  Act  of  Parliament,  a  statute  being  passed,  ordaining 
none  to  wear  their  beards  in  that  manner.*  "  A  thicke  curled  bush  of 
haire  hanging  downe  over  their  eyes,  and  monstrously  disguising  them," 
was  termed  "glibes."  By  cutting  off  these  "writhed  glibbes,"  or  let- 
ting them  fall  down  on  the  face,  a  person  was  not  easily  recognised.  It 
was  surely  in  consequence  of  this  custom,  that  Gildas  says  the  Picts 

covered  their  villanous  countenances  with  hair,"!  ^^at  the  Irish 
were  stigmatized  as  "shag-haired  villains."  Sometimes  it  would  appear, 
that  for  their  safety  they  denuded  themselves  of  their  hair,  but  necessity 
alone  compelled  the  adoption  of  such  a  measure,  for  it  was  otherwise 
reckoned  "  notable  villainy  to  crop  the  glibbes  in  front.  "J  Cluverius  ob- 
serves that  the  Irish  were  the  last  of  the  Celtic  race  who  retained  the 
custom  of  wearing  the  hair  in  the  ancient  manner.^  The  Scots  High- 
landers, about  a  century  ago,  wore  it  fastened  in  the  peculiar  way  which 
is  here  shown,  and  which  is  a  later  instance  of  the  ancient  mode  of  hair 
dressing. 


They  are  yet  fond  of  wearing  their  hair  long;  and  many  are  to  be 
seen  who  continue  to  tie  it  behind,  in  the  same  manner  as  represented  in 
the  Frontispiece.  This  fashion  of  tying  the  hair  was  called  clubbing,  a 
term  evidently  derived  from  the  Gaelic,  and  more  particularly  applied  to 
the  form  used  by  the  women,  and  not  yet  laid  aside  in  the  north  of  Scot- 
land, where  it  is  turned  up  in  a  knot  before  and  behind. 

The  practice  of  encouraging  the  growth  of  the  hair  on  the  upper  lip 
only,  was  not  without  occasional  exception.  Diodorus  says,  that  while 
some  shaved  their  beards,  others  did  so  but  in  part,  which  last  method 
was  invariably  adopted  by  people  of  rank.  These  allowed  the  musta- 
chios  to  grow  to  such  a  length,  that  they  fell  down  over  their  mouths, 
and  in  eating,  part  of  the  meat  occasionally  got  entangled  in  the  hair; 
and  when  they  were  drinking,  the  liquor  would  run  "through  the  mus- 
tachios,  as  through  a  sieve. "|l 

*  Spenser's  View  of  Ireland,  p.  32.  t  Chap.  15.  §  2.  $  Campion. 

§  It  was  so  worn  in  remote  parts,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Riche.  Indeed,  in 
the  end  of  last  century,  the  Irish  sailors  continued  to  plait  or  dress  their  hai>^  in  a 
peculiar  manner.  |1  Diod.  Sic. 


86 


BEAUTY  OF  THE  CELTIC  FEMALES. 


Both  Gauls  and  Germans  often  washed  their  heads,  and,  to  beautify 
the  hair  and  increase  its  brightness,  they  used  a  preparation  of  tallow, 
and  ashes  of  certain  vegetables,*  into  which  some  coloring  matter  was 
probably  put.  We  thus  see  that  the  Gauls  were  the  inventors  of  soap, 
and  by  its  frequent  use,  in  which  the  men  indulged  more  than  tlie  women, 
their  hair  became  as  hard  and  strong  as  a  horse's  mancj"  In  the  time 
of  Valens,  the  Roman  troops  coming  suddenly  on  the  German  army, 
which  lay  in  a  valley,  beheld  some  of  them  washing  and  bathing  in  the 
river,  others  busy  in  coloring  the  hairs  of  their  head,  and  making  it  shine 
like  gold.J 

The  care  with  Avhich  these  nations  cherished  their  hair  was  remarka- 
ble. A  striking  instance  of  their  solicitude  respecting  it^  is  afforded  by  a 
young  warrior  who  was  condemned  to  be  beheaded.  His  last  and  most 
earnest  request  was,  that  it  might  not  be  stained  with  his  blood,  or  ex- 
posed, after  his  death,  to  the  rude  touch  of  a  slave. ^  In  some  instances, 
ringlets  of  auburn  hair  have  been  found  in  the  tombs  of  the  early 
Britons.  II 

The  COMPLEXIONS  of  the  Celts  were  fair  and  succulent, IF  apparently 
from  their  northern  climate,  but  attributed  to  their  being  always  clothed 
except  in  battle,**  and  to  their  long  indulgence  in  bed  during  peace. 
From  whatever  cause,  their  bodies  were  remarkably  white,  compared 
with  other  nations. || 

That  the  genuine  descendants  of  this  race  are  distinguished  like  their 
ancestors,  by  a  dusky,  sallow,  sunburnt  hue,  has  been  asserted  by  those 
who  have  shown  more  anxiety  to  maintain  a  system,  than  to  investigate 
truth;  but  it  is  unquestionable  that  the  "  Candida  corpora  "  and  "  coeru- 
lei  oculi,"  always  characterized  the  Celtse.  There  is  nothing  more 
clearly  expressed  by  those  ancient  authors  who  have  described  the  peo- 
ple; and  these  features  must  have  been  striking,  to  be  so  particularly 
noticed.  The  Gauls,  the  Germans,  and  the  Britons  were  alike  distin- 
guished by  their  fair  hair  and  blue  eyes,  and  the  Goths  of  later  ages  dif- 
fered little  from  their  Celtic  progenitors. 

Their  eyes  were  blue  and  large,  but  when  enraged  they  darted  fury, 
and,  having  naturally  a  stern  look,  it  is  said'to  have  then  been  awftil.JJ 
Their  aspect  must  have  been  remarkable.  Ammianus  Marcellinus, 
himself  a  veteran  soldier,  who  had  often  fought  with  these  fierce  nations, 
confesses,  that  in  the  cast  of  their  eyes  there  was  something  terrible. 

The  women  were  very  beautiful, §^  and  were  as  tall  and  courageous  as 
the  men. III!  The  beauty  of  Claudia  Rufina,  a  British  lady,W  is  celebrated 

*  Pliny,  xxviii,  12.  t  Diod.  Sic. 

t  Amm.  Mar.  xxvii.  1.  §  Henry's  Hist,  of  Britain. 

II  Douglas's  Nennia  Britannica. 

IT  Diod.  Sic.  "  Clear."    "  White."    Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10. 

**  Livy,  xxxviii.  21.  It  Isodorus,  xix.  23. 

tt  Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10,  xvi.  10.    Tac.  de  mor.  Germ. 

^§  Athenaeus  observes  "  Celtoe  pulcherrimas  habent  uxores,"  xiii.  8. 

{Ill  Diodorus.  HIT  Robert's  early  History  of  the  Cymri 


VOICE  AND  MANNER  OF  SPEAKING. 


87 


by  Martial.  Ammianus  seems  to  represent  the  females  as  stronger  than 
their  husbands,  but  he  probably  means  in  domestic  warfare  only.*  They 
paid  much  attention  to  their  persons,  especially  in  Aquitain,  where  you 
could  not  see  a  woman,  however  poor,  in  foul  and  ragged  clothes,  as  in 
other  places. 1 

Small  eyebrows  were  considered  very  beautiful  among  the  ancient 
Caledonians,  and  some  females  received  their  names  from  this  handsome 
feature.  Caol-mhal  signifies  a  woman  with  small  eyebrows.  The  he- 
roes of  Morven  were  not  insensible  to  the  power  of  female  eyes.  Dar- 
thula  was  so  called  from  the  beauty  of  her's;  and  a  common  phrase  in 
the  Highlands  to  this  day,  when  extolling  the  beauty  of  a  woman,  is  to 
say,  she  is  lovely  as  Darthula.J 

The  TEETH  of  the  Celtee  were  sound  and  of  a  beautiful  whiteness. 
This  is  observable  in  all  their  interments,  where  they  are  found  to  retain 
the  enamel  when  fevery  other  part  has  gone  to  decay.  Sir  Richard 
Hoare,  who  has  probably  seen  more  of  their  sepulchral  remains  than 
any  other  person,  has  invariably  found  the  teeth  well  preserved.^ 

The  VOICE  of  the  Celts  was  loud  and  terrible;  and  although  they 
spoke  little,  even  their  ordinary  words  were  dreadful.  ||  The  voice  of  the 
Cimbri  differed  from  all  other  men,  and  their  language  was  scarcely  hu- 
man: they  filled  the  air  with  bowlings  and  bellowings,  like  wild  beasts. IF 
Pliny,  alluding  to  their  defeat  by  Marius,  says,  the  disaster  made  them 
yell  again;**  and  the  horrid  din  and  clamor  which  they  made  the  night 
before  the  battle,  resounded  through  the  woods  and  mountains,  and 
struck  the  Roman  soldiers  with  great  terror. 

From  some  accounts,  the  Celtic  nations  appear  more  than  human 
It  is  to  be  presumed,  that  the  terror  they  inspired,  occasioned  many 
exaggerated  representations  of  their  personal  appearance;  but  there  is 
a  sufficient  uniformity  in  the  descriptions,  to  show  that  they  were  a  very 
singular  people.  They  had  a  terrible  aspect,  an  awful  and  loud  voice; 
their  stern  looks  were  sufficient  to  intimidate  most  people,  and  their  bare 
appearance,  when  irritated,  struck  the  beholder  with  terror  and  dismay. 
The  "  loud  and  sonorous  voice  "  of  the  ancient  Celts  was  inherited  by 
the  Caledonians,  and  was  esteemed  a  qualification  of  some  importance. 
When  Fingal  raised  his  voice,  "  Cromla  answered  around,  the  sons  of 
the  desert  stood  still,  and  the  fishes  of  the  troubled  sea  moved  to  the 
depths."  Columba,  when  performing  service  in  his  church  of  lona,  is 
said  to  have  been  heard  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half 

The  Celtic  nations  spoke  very  little,  and  their  language  was  dark  and 
figurative  ilj  their  manner  of  talking  was  solemn  and  mysterious,  the  or- 
dinary words  of  most  of  them,  as  well  when  they  were  at  peace,  as  when 
they  were  irritated,  being  dreadful  and  full  of  menace.JJ   They  were 

*  XV.  10.  t  Amm.  Mar.  xv.  c.  12.  t  M'Pherson  in  Ossian,  &c. 

§  See  his  interesting  work  on  ancient  Wiltshire.  ||  Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10.  Livy,  vi. 
IT  Plutarch  in  Bello  Cimbrico,  xxvi.  4. 

tt  Diod,  Sic.  t\  Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10. 


88 


PRONENESS  TO  WARFARE. 


hyperbolical  in  their  own  praise,  and  spoke  contemptuously  of  all  others. 
"My  pointed  spear,  my  sharp  sword,  my  glittering  shield,"  said  an  old 
Celtic  hero,  "are  my  wealth  and  riches;  with  them  I  plough,  with  them 
I  sow,  and  with  them  I  make  my  wine: — whoever  dare  not  resist  my 
pointed  spear,  my  sharp  sword,  and  my  glittering  shield,  prostrates  him- 
self before,  and  adores  me  as  his  lord  and  his  king."*  The  celebrated 
Macdonald,  of  Barisdale,  in  the  last  century,  had  a  high  opinion  of  his 
own  merits,  although  he  was  considered  by  others  as  a  very  licentious 
freebooter.  On  the  silver  ornaments  of  his  sword  belt,  he  displayed  his 
vanity  in  a  classical  address  to  that  weapon. "j"  "The  insolency  of  the 
Gauls  appears  to  have  been  notorious.  "J  They  were  "  most  grievously 
provoking;"  but  if  they  "  were  apt  to  menace  others,"  it  was  probably 
most  observable  towards  those  who  were  laboring  to  subdue  them,  for 
most  nations  are  inclined,  on  such  occasions,  to  utter  their  defiance  in 
no  very  pleasing  expressions.  When  Alexander  attacked  the  Scyths, 
they  threw  out  the  most  opprobrious  and  railing  language,  after  their 
barbarous  manner.^ 

The  Celts  were  also  extremely  irascible,  being  naturally  passionate, || 
managing  their  affairs  more  by  rage  and  fury  than  by  reason. IF  The 
Germans  were  accustomed  to  fall  upon  their  enemies,  without  much  con- 
sideration, as  it  appeared,  of  what  they  were  about;  for  they  did  not 
reason,  but  went  rashly  into  danger  without  just  hopes.**  The  Gauls 
were  so  liable  to  sudden  excitation,  that,  in  the  very  midst  of  eating,  they 
would  rise  in  a  heat,  and,  without  regard  to  their  lives,  fall  to  it  with 
their  swords.^  As  they  were  hurried  into  war  by  an  irresistible  impa- 
tience, proceeding  from  a  simplicity  of  feeling  that  prevented  reflection, 
the  same  sincerity  led  them  soon  to  relent  and  be  appeased.  Their^first 
heat  being  spent,  they  often  became  disheartened. If  or  rather  appeared 
so,  and  relinquished  the  prosecution  of  a  war  as  suddenly  as  they  had 
engaged  in  it.  An  enterprise  was  abandoned,  when  the  heat  in  which 
they  took  arms  had  abated.  However  creditable  this  might  have  been 
to  their  subsequent  reasoning,  it  subjected  them  to  a  charge  of  incon- 
sistency, and  threw  a  shade  on  their  military  fame.  Hannibal,  in  his 
march  through  Italy,  prevented  the  Gauls  in  his  army  from  deserting, 
by  placing  his  cavalry  in  the  rear,||  but  he  certainly  gave  them  the  se- 
verest part  of  the  service,  for  they  suffered  more  than  any  others  of  his 
army. 

They  were  much  given  to  brawls,  and  exceedingly  insolent;  and  the 
women  were  particularly  famous  in  this  sort  of  wrangling,  of  which  we 

*  Athenseus,  xv.  c.  14.  See  the  parabolical  speech  of  the  Druid  Sithama,  in  "  the 
fall  of  Tura."    Smith's  Gallic  Ant.  p.  318. 

t    Haec  tibi  erunt  artes,  pacis  componere  mores ; 

Parcere  subjectis,  et  debellare  superbos." 
t  Polybius  iii.    See  Tac.  de  mor.  i.  66,  and  throughout  his  works. 
§  Diodorus.  ||  Josephus,  Ant.  xix.  1.  §  15.   Seneca  de  Ira.  iii.  3. 

TI  Polybius.  Josephus,  Ant.  xix.  1.  §  15.  Ibid.  Jew.  Wars,  vii.  4.  §  2. 

tt  Polybius,  iii. 


THEIR  MILITARY  EXPLOITS. 


89 


have  a  lively  description  from  the  pen  of  honest  Marcellinus.  "  If  any 
of  them,"  says  he,  *'  be  set  a  brawling,  having  the  shrew,  his  wife,  (who 
is  commonly  the  stronger,  by  far,  of  the  two,  and  of  a  sallow  complex- 
ion,) to  take  his  part,  a  whole  band  of  strangers  is  not  able  to  match  him; 
especially  when,  setting  out  her  big  neck,  with  swollen  veins,  she  falls  a 
grating  her  teeth  and  levelling  her  snow-white  arms,  of  a  mighty  large 
size,  once  begins  to  lay  about  her  with  fists  and  heels  together,  like  the 
bolts  and  darts  discharged  with  violence  from  a  military  engine."*  The 
Celtic,  as  may  be  readily  believed,  from  their  fiery  dispositions,  were 
prone  to  war.  Their  propensity  to  fight  led  them  into  hostilities  on  very 
slight  occasions,  and  impelled  them  to  undertake  the  most  dangerous  ex- 
peditions. Athenaeus  says,  they  would  wage  war  for  meat  and  drink;  but, 
surely,  the  want  of  either  was  a  powerful  stimulus.  The  whole  race  was 
warlike  and  fierce,  and  ready  to  fight  with  the  greatest  ardor,  in  open 
contention,  without  malignity,  and  with  the  utmost  strength  and  courage, 
but  accompanied  with  a  rashness  and  temerity  not  very  compatible  with 
military  discipline,!  and  that  often  brought  disasters  which  their  daring 
and  undaunted  bravery  could  not  avert.  At  the  same  time,  this  hot  tem- 
per enabled  them  to  surmount  obstacles  and  achieve  exploits  that  they 
were  perhaps  inadequate  to  accomplish,  if  unimpassioned.  It  was  equal- 
ly true  of  them  as  of  the  Scots'  Highlanders,  who,  when  kept  passive, 
were  observed  to  "lose  their  ardor."  The  military  prowess  of  the  Celts 
was  proverbial.  Tacitus  says,  the  Germans  thought  it  more  honorable 
to  live  by  their  sword  than  the  labor  of  any  occupation.  "  The  Gauls," 
he  remarks,  "were  prompted  to  fight,  by  liberty;  the  Germans,  by  the 
allurements  of  spoil;  the  Batavians,  by  glory. "J  "  The  Celts  carried 
their  rights  on  the  points  of  their  swords,  and  said  all  things  belonged  to 
the  brave  who  had  courage  to  seize  them."§ 

These  restless  warriors  repeatedly  invaded  Italy  with  terrible  devas- 
tation. In  this  country,  peopled  in  the  most  early  ages  by  the  Celtse, 
many  of  the  ancient  nations  continued  to  preserve  their  original  manners 
when  the  Roman  empire  was  in  its  zenith,  and  they  long  retained  the 
martial  spirit  inherent  in  the  race.  Those  nations  of  Gauls  which  dwelt 
in  Italy,  in  the  beginning,  not  only  held  the  country,  but  acquired  the 
alliance  of  most  of  their  neighbors,  who  were  terrified  at  their  fury.j] 

The  Gauls  under  Brennus,  chief  of  the  Senones,  having  for  some 
cause  attacked  the  Tyrrhenians,  the  Romans  sent  ambassadors  to  learn 
the  reason  of  the  war,  who,  arriving  when  the  two  armies  were  ready  to 
engage,  very  inconsiderately  joined  the  latter  people,  and  killed  one  of 
their  princes.  After  the  battle,  the  Gauls  sent  to  Rome  to  demand  that 
the  ambassador  should  be  condemned  as  one  who  without  cause  had 
done  them  this  injury,  and  thereby  given  just  provocation  for  war.  The 

*  Lib.  XV.  c.  10.  t  Strabo,  iv.  p.  195.    Polybius,  &c. 

t  Annals  iv.    He  elsewhere  says,  the  Gauls  had  become  rich  and  unwarlike.  The 
German  wars  raged  with  most  fury  when  he  wrote. 
§  Livy,  V.  35.  11  Polybius,  ii. 

12 


90 


THEIR  xMILITARY  EXPLOITS. 


justice  of  the  request  was  at  once  admitted  by  the  senate,  who  ordered 
the  offender  to  be  given  up;  but  the  influence  of  his  friends  prevailed 
with  the  people,  who  insisted  on  the  decree  being  reversed.  The  Gauls 
were  greatly  enraged  when  they  learned  this  decision,  and  increasing 
their  army  to  seventy  thousand  they  marched  straight  to  Rome.  They 
were  met  at  Alia,  ten  miles  from  the  city,  by  the  Roman  troops,  who  were 
speedily  driven  from  the  heights  where  they  had  posted  themselves,  in 
disorder  to  the  plain,  and  routed  with  dreadful  slaughter. 

The  victors,  according  to  their  custom,  spent  the  first  day  after  the 
battle  in  cutting  off  the  heads  of  the  slain;  but  on  the  fourth,  they  ad- 
vanced to  the  walls  of  Rome,  broke  down  the  gates,  and  laid  the  whole 
city  in  ashes,  except  a  few  houses  on  Mount  Palatine.  They  were 
frustrated  in  their  attempts  on  the  capitol  by  the  well  known  alarm  that 
was  given  by  the  sacred  geese,  but  were  only  induced  to  abandon  their 
design  on  payment  of  one  thousand  pounds  of  gold,  with  which  they  re- 
tired, after  having  occupied  Rome  seven  months.  So  far,  indeed,  the 
Celts  had  done  pretty  well;  but  on  their  march  homewards,  they  attack- 
ed Veascus,  partly  to  revenge  the  assistance  which  the  inhabitants  had 
afforded  their  enemies,  and  partly  to  augment  their  booty  by  the  sack  of 
the  place.  The  Romans  having  pursued  them  under  the  leading  of 
Camillus,  totally  overthrew  them,  and  recovered  their  gold  and  most  of 
the  other  plunder.*  It  was  only  after  this  repulse  of  Brennus,  that  the 
Romans  appear  to  have  taken  courage  to  attack  the  Italian  Celts. "f 

In  the  time  of  Asdrubal,  the  Gauls  descended  into  Italy  with  fifty 
thousand  foot,  and  twenty  thousand  cars  and  horsemen.  The  Romans, 
at  this  time,  thought  it  impossible  long  to  hold  their  country,  unless  they 
had  subdued  these  nations;  J  and,  before  their  final  subjection,  they  were 
so  terrible  to  the  Romans,  that,  when  the  Gauls  appeared,  old  age  did 
not  excuse  any  from  the  war:  even  the  priests,  who  were  exempted 
from  military  duty  on  all  other  occasions,  being  obliged  to  take  the  field 
when  these  formidable  enemies  were  to  be  opposed, §  and  they  solemnly 
cursed  all  who  took  money  from  the  treasury,  except  for  the  Gallic  wars. 

In  the  account  of  the  Cimbrian  invasion,  we  have  a  striking  picture 
of  these  ferocious  nations.  The  magnitude  of  the  armament  filled  all 
Italy  with  the  greatest  alarm,  and  the  extraordinary  strength  and  hardi- 
hood of  these  people  impressed  the  Romans  with  the  utmost  terror. 
When  they  beheld  the  Cimbri,  of  immense  stature  and  horrid  counte- 
nances, exposing  themselves  naked  to  showers  of  snow,  climbing  to  the 
mountain  tops,  and  sliding  down  the  frozen  precipices  on  their  shields, 
for  mere  amusement,  and  tearing  up  the  neighboring  hills  to  form  a  pas- 
sage across  a  river,  &c.,  the  Roman  veterans  began  to  desert  their  col- 
ors, and  at  last  fled.||  Yet  by  the  excellent  generalship  of  Marius,  and 
the  military  discipline  of  the  Roman  army,  they  were  eventually  defeat- 
ed in  two  battles,  with  incredible  slaughter.    Plutarch  tells  us,  the  lands 


*  Diod.  Sic.  xii. 

§  Appian,  Civ.  Wars,  ii. 


t  Polybius,  i,  t  Ibid.  ii. 

11  Polyaenus,  viii.  10.    Plutarch  de  Bello  Cimbrico. 


THEIR  MILITARY  RENOWN. 


91 


of  the  Massilians  were  amply  manured  by  the  slain,  whose  bones  were 
so  numerous,  as  afterwards  to  be  used  in  enclosing  the  vineyards;  the 
few  who  escaped  the  disaster  retiring  to  the  mountains  around  Verona 
and  Vincenza,  where  their  descendants  still  exist.  Before  they  entered 
Italy,  they  had  been  opposed  in  their  march  through  Gaul  by  the  Ro- 
mans, who  lost  sixty  thousand  men  in  the  attempt.*^  From  the  first 
mention  of  the  Cimbri,  the  Romans  had  been  two  hundred  and  ten  years 
in  conquering  Germany,  where  they  lost  five  armies. "f  Titus,  to  dissuade 
the  Jews  from  a  war  with  the  Romans,  represented  to  them  the  madness 
of  contending  with  those,  by  whom  the  strong  Germans,  who,  wherever 
they  went,  performed  marvellous  exploits,  had  been  overcome. J  Who 
is  there  among  you  that  hath  not  heard  of  the  great  number  of  the  Ger- 
mans? You  have  yourselves  seen  them  to  be  strong  and  tall:  "  these 
"who  have  minds  greater  than  their  bodies,  and  a  soul  that  despises 
death,  and  who  are  in  rage  more  fierce  than  wild  beasts. 

The  Gauls,  he  continues,  became  tributary  to  the  Romans,  not  be- 
cause they  were  of  "  effeminate  minds,  or  ignoble,  for  they  bore  a  war 
of  eighty  years,  for  their  liberty."^  These  nations,  indeed,  fought  so 
desperately,  that  their  fame  was  spread  abroad  both  far  and  wide,  and  it 
was  an  object  with  many  powerful  States,  to  retain  bodies  of  them  in 
their  service,  at  much  expense.  Being  held  in  this  estimation,  and  re- 
collecting the  daring  exploits  of  their  ancestors,  it  was  no  wonder  that 
they  became  so  proud  of  themselves  as  to  despise  all  other  people,  [| 
Polybius  declares,  that  "  never  until  this  day  were  greater  wars  than  the 
Gallic,  either  for  obstinacy  of  courage,  or  the  resolution  of  the  combat- 
ants; the  greatness  of  armies,  or  the  slaughter  of  men.  "IT  "  These  are 
they,"  says  another,  "who  took  Rome;  these  robbed  the  temple  at 
Delphos;  these  laid  a  great  part  of  Europe  and  Asia  under  tribute,  and 
took  possession  of  some  of  the  countries  they  had  subdued:  mixing  with 
the  Greeks,  they  were  called  Gallo-Grecians.  They  often  routed  and 
cut  up  many  great  armies  of  Romans. "|| 

The  Gauls  who  had  escaped  from  Delphos,  after  they  had  vanquished 
the  Thracians,  settled  about  Byzantium,  and  built  the  royal  city  Tyle. 
The  Byzantines  saved  themselves  from  plunder  by  paying  tribute  to  the 
Gallic  king,  Comontoire,  sometimes  thirty  thousand,  sometimes  fifty 
thousand,  and  at  other  times  one  hundred  thousand  crowns.  Finally, 
they  were  forced  to  give  eighty  thousand  crowns  yearly,  until  the  time 
of  Clyare,  when  the  Celts  were  extirpated  by  the  Thracians.** 

When  any  of  the  Eastern  States  wished  to  raise  an  army  for  some 
desperate  undertaking,  they  recruited  in  Gaul;  and  when  a  faithful  body- 
guard was  wanted,  the  Celtse  were  engaged  at  any  price.  The  Cartha- 
ginians, especially,  had  always  numerous  bodies  of  these  troops  in  their 
armies,  which  were  chiefly  furnished  by  Gaul  and  Spain.|t  Mithrada- 


*  Diod.  Sic.  Fragment,  xxxvi. 
X  Josephus  Jew.  Wars,  vi.  6,  §  2. 
IT  Lib.  ii. 


f  Tacitus. 

§  Ibid.  ii.  16,  §  4. 

**  Polybius,  iv. 


II  Diod.  Sic.  v.  2. 
ft  Diod.  &c. 


92 


THEIR  MILITARY  EDUCATION. 


tes,  king  of  Pontus,  boasted  that  he  had  in  his  army  those  Gauls  who 
had  always  frightened  the  Romans.*  Dionysius,  the  tyrant,  engaged 
two  thousand  Gauls  and  Celtiberians  to  assist  the  Lacedemonians,  and 
gave  them  five  months'  pay  in  advance.  The  Greeks,  who  had  a  suffi- 
ciently high  opinion  of  their  own  abilities,  in  order  to  try  the  valor  of 
their  new  allies,  drew  them  out  against  the  Boeotians  and  their  confede  ■ 
rates,  whom  they  very  speedily  overthrew.  During  the  time  they  serv- 
ed, we  are  told  they  were  of  great  use,  and  purchased  much  renown. I 

Apollodorus,  king  of  Cassandria  in  Macedonia,  armed  and  engaged 
with  large  rewards  a  life-guard  of  these  men. J  Perseus  of  Macedonia 
bargained  for  20,000  of  them;  and  Herod,  king  of  the  Jews,  received, 
as  his  body-guard,  400  who  had  served  Cleopatra  in  sthe  same  capaci- 
ty.^ The  Celtic  legion,  who  were  the  guards  of  Caligula,  hearing  of 
his  assassination,  instantly  drew  their  swords,  and  marched  to  the  thea- 
tre, determined  in  their  rage  to  put  every  soul  to  the  sword. ||  The 
Gauls  were  among  the  ancients,  what  the  Swiss  have  been  in  modern 
ages. 

The  whole  education  of  the  Gauls  was  intended  to  qualify  them  for 
the  profession  of  war.  They  never  permitted  their  children  to  appear 
before  them  in  public,  until  they  were  able  to  bear  arms;Tr  and  to  pre- 
vent their  young  men  from  becoming  fat,  they  were  kept  at  work,  and 
were  obliged  to  wear  a  girdle,  to  determine  their  just  size,  which  if  they 
exceeded,  they  were  fined.** 

Among  the  Germans,  no  one  was  allowed  to  bear  arms  until  the  com- 
munity had  attested  his  ability  to  use  them.  If  found  worthy,  he  was 
dignified  by  one  of  the  rulers,  or  his  father,  in  the  midst  of  a  public  as- 
sembly, with  a  shield  and  javeline,  and  from  thenceforward  he  became  a 
member  of  the  commonwealth. 

There  was  but  one  sort  of  public  diversion  among  these  people,  and  it 
shows  in  a  strong  light  the  estimation  in  which  military  prowess  was 
held.  The  young  men  flung  themselves  naked  amongst  sharp  swords 
and  darts,  where  they  fearlessly  danced  amid  the  loud  applauses  of  the 
spectators:  a  performance  which  they  executed  with  much  grace,  but 
not  for  hire.  To  please  their  admiring  countrymen  was  their  sole  and 
highest  reward. II 

The  Scotish  tribes  in  Ireland,  we  are  told,  trained  up  their  youth  to 
martial  exercises  from  their  seventh  year,  and  they  were  honorably  re- 
warded according  to  their  proficiency. J|  The  Scots  Highlanders  prac- 
tised the  same  custom;  and  as  the  military  character  of  the  Britons 

*  Justin,  xxxvii.  t  Diod.  Sic.  xv.  8.  t  Diod.  Sic. 

§  Josephus  Jew.  Wars,  i.  20,  §  3.  |1  Josephus  Jew.  Ant.  xix.  i.  §  15. 

TT  Bello  Gall.  **  Strabo,  iv.  p.  199.         tt  Tacitus  de  mor.  Germ. 

ttHarl.  MS.  5280  contains  an  account  of  the  renowned  Irish  Militia,  with  tlieir 
course  of  probation,  and  exercises,  written  before  the  10th  century,  by  Gillo  Tancou- 
lourd  Mac  Tuathal,  in  the  reign  of  Cormac  Mac  Airt.  Astle  has  noticed  this  curious 
work. 


MILITARY  ENTHUSIASM. 


93 


closely  resembled  that  of  the  continental  Celts,  they  had  also  a  public 
investment  of  their  youth  with  arms.  The  remains  of  this  custom  existed 
in  the  Highlands  and  Isles  almost  within  memory  of  man.  The  princi- 
pal persons  in  a  clan  were  obliged  to  give  public  proof  of  their  valor  and 
dexterity  in  the  use  of  their  arms,  before  assuming  any  command. 

The  first  meat  which  an  Irish  infant  anciently  received,  was  put  into 
its  mouth  on  the  point  of  a  sword  by  the  mother,  with  many  imprecations 
and  prayers,  that  he  might  not  die  otherwise  than  with  honor  in  battle.* 
Giraldus  Cambrensis  notices  a  custom,  which  prevailed  in  some  parts 
even  in  the  sixteenth  century:  the  right  arm  was  left  unchristened,  so 
that  it  might  be  able  to  give  a  sure  and  deadly  blow.^ 

The  chief  himself  was  not  acknowledged  until  he  had  thus  proved  his 
right. J  With  so  careful  an  attention  to  military  education,  is  it  surpris- 
ing that  the  nation  should  be  warlike?  To  the  Caledonians,  the  Britons 
of  the  south  said,  the  Gods  themselves  were  not  equal.  Herodian  de- 
scribes them  as  insatiably  fond  of  slaughter;  and  so  little  have  their  pug- 
nacious habits  been  changed  by  time,  that  for  nearly  eighteen  centuries, 
they  have  lived  in  almost  continual  war,  either  amongst  themselves  or 
with  others.  From  the  most  early  ages,  the  Scots  were  extolled  for 
their  valor.  "Ilz  sent  asses  hardi  et  chevaleraux  de  leur  personnes," 
as  an  old  French  writer  says.§  And  they  still  nobly  support  the  charac- 
ter which  their  ancestors  acquired,  as  fierce  and  unyielding  warriors. 

No  age  among  the  Gauls  was  exempt  from  the  wars,  from  the  youth 
capable  of  bearing  arms  to  the  hoary  head;  nor  was  it  necessary  to 
urge  any  to  take  the  field,  for  all  went  with  the  utmost  cheerfulness;  and 
it  is  a  remarkable  and  sanguinary  proof  of  the  martial  spirit  of  these  stern 
warriors,  that  the  unfortunate  individual  who  arrived  last  at  their  assem- 
blies, was  publicly  put  to  death. 

JVo  obstacles  could  deter  them  from  the  prosecution  of  a  war,  for, 
when  they  had  once  resolved  to  take  up  arms,  they  were  determined  to 
encounter  the  most  numerous  and  fearful  disasters.  || 

The  Gauls  who  engaged  with  Hannibal,  declared  themselves  ready 
to  undergo  any  danger  with  him:  unfortunately,  the  campaign  turned 
out  none  of  the  easiest, IT  for  these  daring  and  hardy  auxiliaries. 

This  forwardness  to  put  themselves  on  arduous  expeditions  and  readi- 
ness to  undertake  difficult  operations,  has  distinguished  the  Celts  in  all 
ages.  At  the  siege  of  Roxburgh,  in  1322,  the  Highlanders  were  order- 
ed to  climb  a  precipice  on  which  the  English  were  posted,  which  they 
very  soon  accomplished,  putting  the  enemy  to  immediate  flight.**  We 

*  Solinus. 

t  Campion.    This  reservation  could  only  have  been  made,  from  retaining  the  prim- 
itive mode  of  performing  baptism  by  immersion, 
t  Dr.  Macpherson,  &c. 

§  Perlin's  Description  des  royaulmes  d'Angleterre  et  d'Ecosse.  Paris,  1558,  ed.  Lon- 
don, 1775.      Ilz  sont  hardis  et  vertueux  comme  lions he  elsewhere  repeats. 
II  Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10.  H  Polybius.    The  Gauls  always  suffered  most 

**  Lord  Haile's  Annals. 


94 


THE  CELTS  SUPERIOR  TO  THE  ROMANS. 


also  find  that  Donald  of  the  Isles  came  to  one  of  the  sieges  of  Roxburgh, 
with  a  great  body  of  men,  "  armed  in  Highland  fashion,  with  habergions, 
bows  and  axes,"  anxiously  desiring  leave  to  march  into  England  before 
the  army,  '*  to  take  upon  them  the  first  press  and  dint  of  the  battle."* 

The  Romans  had  no  inclination  to  admit  that  they  were  ever  defeated, 
yet,  in  the  various  details  which  are  preserved  concerning  the  Gallic 
wars,  they  acknowledge  enough  to  prove,  that,  although  their  military 
discipline  gave  them  a  decided  advantage,  they  never  met  with  a  more 
determined  resistance;  and,  although  ultimately  successful,  many  battles 
were  certainly  extremely  unfavorable,  if  not  dishonorable,  to  the  Roman 
arms.  The  testimony  which  the  conquerors  of  the  world  have  borne  to 
the  intrepid  bravery  and  undaunted  resolution  of  the  Celta3,  is  highly  to 
be  esteemed,  for  the  admission  of  an  enemy  may  be  safely  received, 
when  discreditable  to  himself. 

Tacitus  admits  that  the  Roman  arms  were  tarnished  by  the  brave  Ger- 
mans; and  Sallust,  in  Cataline,  says  the  Gauls  were  superior  in  military 
prowess  to  his  countrymen. "f  The  Batavi,  Matiarii,  and  Lancearii, 
Gallic  and  German  auxiliaries,  stood  their  ground  in  that  battle  where 
the  emperor  Valens  fell,  when  all  the  Romans  fled. J  The  great  Ctesar 
himself,  on  many  occasions,  speaks  in  terms  of  admiration  of  the  valor 
and  heroism  of  these  nations.  The  Nervii,  he  says,  overcame  difficul- 
ties, which,  though  seemingly  insurmountable,  appeared  yet  as  nothing 
to  men  of  their  resolution  and  magnanimity.  In  a  certain  battle,  the 
slain  were  so  numerous  as  to  form  a  pile,  from  which  the  survivors,  as 
from  a  rampart,  continued  to  hurl  their  javelins  on  the  enemy,  and  dis- 
puted the  field  with  so  much  perseverance,  that  in  the  sanguinary  con- 
flict their  name  was  almost  extinguished.  On  many  other  occasions,  we 
find  whole  bodies  were  slaughtered  to  a  man,  rather  than  yield.  The 
Gallic  foot  at  Telamon,  Polybius  says,  fell  on  the  spot  where  they  had 
placed  themselves. 

Their  contempt  of  death  was  very  remarkable.  Aristotle  says  "  they 
fear  neither  earthquakes  nor  inundations."  This  fearless  disposition  led 
them  to  behave  as  if  they  were  insane,  for,  according  to  some  writers, 
they  would  not  retire  from  their  houses  if  they  were  falling  about  their 
ears,  and  would  rush  into  the  water  as  if  they  were  able,  with  s^vord  in 
hand,  to  beat  back  the  encroaching  waves.  However  much  of  this  may 
be  true,  they  certainly  fought  with  a  desperation  and  fury  almost  incred- 
ible. At  Thermopylae,  they  rushed  on  the  Greeks  with  a  ferocity  re- 
sembling that  of  wild  beasts;  "their  rage,  while  life  remained,  suffer- 
ing no  abatement,  though  they  were  wounded  by  the  battle-axe,  cut  down 
with  the  sword,  or  pierced  with  darts  and  arrows."  Some  of  these  Gauls 
tore  the  lacerating  darts  from  their  bodies,  and  discharged  them  back  on 
the  Greeks,  or,  as  they  lay  wounded  on  the  ground,  pierced  with  them 
those  who  stood  near  them.§ 


*  Pitscottie's  Chronicles,  p.  102,  8vo. 
+  Amm.  Mar.  xxxi. 


i  C.  53. 

§  Pausanias,  x.  c.  21. 


ANECDOTES  OF  HIGHLAND  BRAVERY.  95 

At  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  in  1745,  the  cavalry  had  rushed  on  the  reb- 
els, broken  their  ranks,  and  were  trampling  them  under  the  horses'  feet. 
"The  Highlanders,  stretched  on  the  ground,  thrust  their  dirks  into  the 
bellies  of  the  horses.  Some  seized  the  riders  by  their  clothes,  dragged 
them  down  and  stabbed  them;  several,  again,  used  their  pistols;  but 
few  had  sufficient  space  to  handle  their  swords."  The  cavalry  were 
eventually  repulsed,  the  Highlanders  pursuing  them  and  running  as  fast 
as  the  horses  could  gallop.* 

No  man,  says  Caesar,  speaking  of  a  battle  which  lasted  from  one 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  until  evening,  saw  the  back  of  an  enemy;  and, 
even  when  compelled  to  give  way,  the  Gauls  rallied  at  their  carriages, 
and  renewed  the  fight  with  greater  obstinacy,  until  the  night  was  far 
spent. I  In  another  engagement  with  the  Romans,  the  first  ranks  of  the 
Gallic  troops  were  swept  off  by  the  javelins  of  the  enemy,  and  their 
army  attacked  both  in  front  and  rear,  yet  not  a  man  offered  to  fly,  but 
stood  and  fought  until  every  soul  was  cut  off.J 

Amongst  many  instances  of  personal  bravery  and  heroism,  it  is  related 
by  the  same  accomplished  writer,  who  was  an  eye  witness  of  the  trans- 
action, that,  at  the  siege  of  Avaricum,  a  Gaul  planted  himself  before  the 
gate  and  in  the  face  of  the  whole  Roman  army,  continued  to  cast  balls 
of  burning  pitch  and  tallow,  in  order  to  set  fire  to  the  towers  which  the 
enemy  had  raised,  until  he  was  shot  dead  by  an  arrow.  The  danger  of 
such  a  position  did  not  prevent  its  being  instantly  occupied  by  another 
Gaul,  who  was  almost  as  quickly  brought  down.  His  nearest  compan- 
ion, undismayed  at  death,  stepping  over  the  bodies  of  his  brave  com- 
rades, resumed  the  perilous  duty  and  shared  their  fate.  Still  a  fourth 
warrior  placed  himself  with  alacrity  in  the  fatal  spot,  and  he  too  fell  a 
speedy  sacrifice  to  his  temerity;  yet  until  the  conflict  ceased,  the  place 
was  not  abandoned. § 

In  the  disordered  retreat  at  Culloden,  an  English  cavalry  officer  ad- 
vanced in  front  of  his  regiment,  to  catch  one  of  the  flying  Highlanders 
who  had  come  rather  close  to  the  line.  The  fellow  quickly  brought  him 
down  with  his  broadsword,  and  having  despatched  him,  he  deliberately 
stopped  to  take  his  watch,  in  front  of  a  whole  squadron  of  the  enemy.  || 
In  that  disastrous  battle,  the  heroism  of  Gillies  Mac  Bane  was  most 
eminently  displayed,  and  worthy  of  a  better  fate.  This  gentleman  was 
major  of  the  regiment  of  clan  Macintosh ;  and  when  the  Argyle  militia 
broke  down  the  park  wall  which  enabled  them  to  attack  the  Highlanders 
in  flank,  the  brave  Gillies  stationed  himself  at  the  gap,  and,  as  the  ene- 
my entered,  they  severely  suffered  from  the  irresistible  strokes  of  his 
claymore.  As  John  Breac  Mac  Donald,  who  stood  beside  him,  ex- 
pressed it,  "  he  mowed  them  down  like  dockins."    At  last,  finding  him- 

*  Chevalier  Johnstone's  Memoirs,  p.  92.    On  this  occasion,  Macdonald  of  Clanraii- 
rtald  was  with  difficulty  rescued  fi:om  under  a  dead  horse  that  had  fallen  on  him. 
t  Bello  Gall.  i.  20.  t  Bello  Gall.  vii.  56. 

§  Bello  Gall.  vii.  12.  !1  Chev.  Johnstone. 


96 


GILLIES  MACBANE. 


self  opposed  singly  to  a  whole  troop,  he  set  his  back  to  the  wall  and  de- 
fended himself  with  the  fierceness  of  desperation,  keeping  the  enemy 
long  at  bay,  and  killing  an  almost  incredible  number.  Some  officers, 
admiring  his  valor,  endeavored  to  save  his  life,  but  poor  Gillies  fell 
where  he  had  slain  thirteen  of  his  foes.  According  to  some  accounts, 
the  number  was  much  greater.  A  descendant  of  this  brave  man,  who 
has  lost  a  leg,  resides  at  Chelsea,  and  is  remarkable  for  his  fine  stature 
and  proportion.  The  following  verses  are  said  to  be  from  the  pen  of 
Lord  Byron: 

GILLIES  MACBANE. 

The  clouds  may  pour  down  on  Culloden's  red  plain,s 
But  the  waters  shall  flow  o'er  its  crimson  in  vain; 
For  their  drops  shall  seem  few  to  the  tears  for  the  slain  • 
But  mine  are  for  thee,  my  brave  Gillies  Machane! 

Though  thy  cause  was  tiie  cause  of  the  mjured  and  brave , 
Though  thy  death  was  the  hero's,  and  glorious  thy  grave ; 
With  thy  dead  foes  around  thee,  piled  high  on  the  plain, 
My  sad  heart  bleeds  o'er  thee,  my  Gillies  Machane  ! 

How  the  horse  and  the  horseman  thy  single  hand  slew  ! 
But  what  could  the  mightiest  single  arm  do  ? 
A  hundred  like  thee  might  the  battle  regain ; 
But  cold  are  thy  hand  and  heart.  Gillies  Macbane ! 

With  thy  back  to  the  wall,  and  thy  breast  to  the  targe, 
Full  flashed  thy  claymore  in  the  face  of  their  charge ; 
The  blood  of  their  boldest  that  barren  turf  stain  ; 
But  alas  ! — thine  is  reddest  there,  Gillies  Macbane ! 

Hewn  down,  but  still  battling,  thou  sunk'st  on  the  ground, 
Thy  plaid  was  one  gore,  and  thy  breast  was  one  wound ; 
Thirteen  of  thy  foes  by  thy  right  hand  lay  slain  ; 
Oh  I  would  they  were  thousands  for  Gillies  Machane  ! 

Oh  !  loud,  and  long  heard,  shall  thy  coronach  be  ; 
And  high  o'er  the  heather  thy  cairn  we  shall  see ; 
And  deep  in  all  bosoms  thy  name  shall  remain. 
But  deepest  in  mine,  dearest  Gillies  Machane  ' 

And  daily  the  eyes  of  thy  brave  Boy  before 
Shall  thy  plaid  be  unfolded  ;  unsheathed  thy  claymore; 
And  the  white  rose  shall  bloom  on  his  bonnet  again, 
Should  he  prove  the  true  son  of  my  Gillies  Macbane  ! 

As  it  was  equally  shameful  for  a  general  to  desert  his  troops  as  for 
ihem  to  abandon  their  commander,  he  shared  the  same  fate  as  his  follow- 
ers; and  it  is  related  that  no  prince  ever  survived  the  loss  of  his  crown. 
Correus,  the  chief  of  the  Bellovaci,  though  his  army  was  put  to  the  rout, 
would  neither  quit  the  field  nor  accept  of  quarter,  but  continued  to  fight 
with  undaunted  courage,  wounding  many  of  the  victorious  Romans,  who 


EXPLOITS  OF  THE  TWO  CELTIC  LEGIONS. 


97 


were  at  last  obliged  to  despatch  him  with  their  javelins.*  "  Some/ 
says  another,  "  before  all  their  blood  was  shed,  rose  up  ere  they  died,  to 
do  some  more  service.  Others,  when  both  knees  were  tired,  bowing  the 
left  leg,  would  rest  themselves  by  thus  reclining,  yet  ready  to  give  a 
fresh  assault,  which  is  a  token  of  obstinacy  and  stiff  resolution,  in  the 
highest  degree."! 

At  the  siege  of  Amida,  the  two  legions  Magnentiae,  raised  in  Gaul  in 
the  time  of  Constantius  and  Julius,  immortalized  themselves.  They 
were  composed  of  valiant  men,  both  active  and  nimble,  excellent  for 
fighting  on  even  ground,  but  unfit  for  besieging,  for  they  would  not  lend 
a  hand  to  help  any  man  at  the  engines,  or  in  raising  bulwarks,  but  fool 
hardily  would  sally  forth  and  fight,  courageously  indeed,  but  they  often 
returned  many  fewer  than  when  they  went  out.  When  the  city  gates  were 
at  last  closed,  and  they  could  not  by  any  entreaty  be  allowed  to  make  their 
usual  sorties,  they  gnashed  their  teeth  like  wild  beasts  for  vexation.  At 
length,  throwing  off  ail  restraint,  they  threatened  death  to  the  tribunes  if 
they  should  offer  to  oppose  their  resolution  of  breaking  out  of  the  city,  to 
attack  the  besieging  Persians,  and  forthwith  began  to  hack  and  hew  down 
the  gates  with  their  swords,  being  exceedingly  afraid  lest  the  place  should 
be  taken  before  they  had  got  to  the  open  field,  there  to  perform  exploits 
that  were  worthy  of  Gauls.  With  great  difficulty  they  were  induced  to  wait 
for  a  short  time,  until  they  could  march  out,  and  attack  the  advanced  posts 
with  some  appearance  of  success.  They  therefore  sallied  out  on  a  certain 
night  by  a  postern  gate,  armed  with  axes  and  swords,  praying  for  success 
to  the  Heavenly  power,  but  proceeding  with  the  utmost  caution,  holding 
their  breath  until  they  reached  the  outwatches,  who  were  instantly  des- 
patched; when  the  whole  body  ran  furiously  toward  the  camp,  designing  to 
surprise  the  king.  But  the  enemy  being  alarmed,  and  speedily  standing 
to  their  arms,  the  Gauls  made  a  halt,  and  most  valiantly,  with  wondrous 
strength,  slashed  and  cut  down  with  their  swords,  all  that  stood  in  their 
way.  The  whole  host  pouring  around  them,  the  Gauls  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  retreat,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  turned  his  back,  but  they  retired 
gradually  within  the  rampart,  sustaining  the  overwhelming  assault  until 
they  at  last  got  into  the  city  at  day-break,  with  the  loss  of  four  hundred 
slain  and  many  wounded,  having  thus  very  nearly  surprised  and  killed, 
not  Rhesus  and  the  Thracians  before  Troy,  but  the  king  of  the  Persians, 
guarded  by  a  hundred  thousand  armed  men.  The  leaders  of  these 
Gauls,  as  most  valiant  heroes,  were  greatly  honored  by  the  Emperor, 
who  commanded  statues  of  them,  in  their  arms,  to  be  set  up  at  Edessa, 
a  place  of  much  resort.  This  is  from  the  pen  of  Ammianus  Marceili- 
nus,J  who  served  in  the  same  campaign,  and  who,  in  a  subsequent  book, 
gives  us  another  anecdote  of  these  heroic  warriors.  After  the  death  of 
Julian,  the  Gauls  were  pitched  on  as  the  most  expert  swimmers,  to  cross 
the  Tigris.  Whether  this  was  to  encourage  the  rest  of  the  army  to  at- 
tempt the  passage,  from  their  success,  or,  as  it  would  otherwise  appear,  to 

*Bello  Gal.  viii.  16.    Pansa.  t  Amm.  Mar.  I  Lib.  xix.  c  r» 

13 


THE  BRITISH  TRIBES. 


deter  those  who  thought  the  plan  of  attack  advisable,  by  showing,  from  the 
fate  of  the  auxiliaries,  the  desperate  nature  of  the  measure,  is  doul)tful, 
but  the  Gauls  were  let  out  of  the  place  at  night,  and,  sooner  than  any 
one  could  have  imagined,  they  reached  the  further  bank,  and  trod  undei 
foot,  and  cut  in  pieces,  those  Persians  who  opposed  them* 

When  the  ambassadors  of  the  Celts,  who  lived  near  the  Ionian  bay, 
met  Alexander  in  the  city  of  the  Getse,  with  offers  of  friendship  and 
proposals  for  a  league,  that  great  monarch  took  an  opportunity  of  asking 
these  people,  what  they  were  most  afraid  of,  believing  that  the  dread  of 
incurring  his  displeasure  and  suffering  from  his  vengeance,  must  have 
been  the  strongest  feelings  at  the  time.  The  Celts  replied  with  charac- 
teristic simplicity  and  indifference,  that  they  were  afraid  of  nothing  more 
than  that  the  sky  should  fall  on  their  heads!  They  were  admitted  by 
the  conqueror  amongst  the  number  of  his  friends,  and  dismissed  with  a 
remark,  that  the  Celts  were  a  very  arrogant  people. f 

The  Nervii  openly  declared  their  resolution  of  neither  sending  am- 
bassadors to  Caesar,  nor  accepting  his  peace  on  any  terms. J 

The  obstinate  and  persevering  resistance,  and  the  daring  attacks  of 
the  Celto3,  more  particularly  the  British  tribes,  could  not  fail  to  make  a 
strong  impression  on  the  Romans.  None  of  the  race  were  more  ardent 
in  the  cause  of  liberty  than  the  Britons;  and  before  they  had  to  contend 
for  their  own  freedom,  they  were  in  the  practice  of  assisting  their  friends 
on  the  continent  with  considerable  bodies  of  troops,  during  their  des- 
perate contentions  with  the  Romans,  which  is  the  chief  cause  assigned 
for  Caesar's  invasion.  Tacitus  avers  that  the  natives  surpassed  the  Gauls 
in  bravery  and  love  of  freedom,  and  declares  that  Caesar  "  by  a  prosper- 
ous battle  only  struck  the  natives  with  terror, — that  he  was  the  discov- 
erer, not  the  conqueror  of  the  island." 

The  fortitude  and  unshaken  perseverance  of  the  Britons,  their  vigi- 
laijce  and  enterprise  in  their  endeavors  to  preserve  their  independence, 
are  amply  evinced  throughout  the  long  and  sanguinary  struggle.  Noth- 
ing but  the  superior  arms  and  discipline  of  the  Romans,  assisted  by  the 
introduction  of  arts,  the  enervating  baits  of  pleasure,  and  charms  of  vice, 
enabled  them  to  provinciate  and  keep  possession  of  the  southern  parts 
of  the  island.  Their  tremendous  power  could  not  but  have  been  long 
known  to  the  Britons,  through  the  Gauls,  who  had  themselves  experi- 
enced it,  at  the  cost  of  upwards  of  a  milHon  of  men,  slain  in  the  field, 
yet  the  appearance  of  those  mighty  conquerors  on  the  shores  of  Albion 
did  not  dispirit  the  warlike  inhabitants. 

Caesar,  on  his  first  descent,  was  evidently  defeated. §  He  procured 
from  his  country  a  thanks  offering  of  twenty  days,  but  the  only  proofs  of 
his  conquest  were  two  hostages,  received  from  cities  perhaps  not  quite 
removed  from  Roman  influence.    In  his  second  attempt,  the  natives  were 

*  Ibid.  XXV.  c.  9.       t  Arian  i.  4.    Ed.  Amstel.  1668,  p.  11.  Strabo.       t  Bello  Gall 
§  Lucan,  with  whom  Tysilio,  an  ancient  Welsh  Bard,  coincides.    Robert's  early 
Hist,  of  the  Cumri. 


CALEDONIANS. 


more  resolutely  determined  to  resist  his  arms,  and  the  bloody  conflict 
that  ensued  on  his  landing,  is  almost  admitted  to  have  ended  in  his  de 
feat.  After  his  death,  Britain  was  scarcely  V.onsidered  as  a  Roman  ac- 
quisition, and  it  was  reserved  for  succeeding  commanders,  by  sacrifices 
of  blood  and  maxims  of  deep  policy,  to  break  the  spirit,  and  sap  the  vir- 
tues of  a  rude  and  patriotic  people. 

The  island  became  better  known  after  the  Romans  had  established 
themselves,  and  its  intercourse  with  the  continent  had  consequently  in- 
creased, while  Gaul,  finally  reduced  to  subjection,  was  but  a  province  of 
the  mighty  empire.  Several  of  the  tribes  also  began  to  find  the  advan- 
tage of  the  alliance  and  protection  of  their  conquerors, — dissensions 
were  fomented  in  favor  of  the  Romans,  and  disunion  facilitated  the  com- 
plete subjugation  of  South  Britain.* 

Fierce  and  daring  by  nature,  the  inhabitants  were  subdued  to  quies- 
cence with  that  refined  policy,  which,  by  the  fascinations  of  luxury^  gilds 
while  it  rivets  the  chains  of  slavery,  and  brings  the  enervated  wearer  to 
submit,  without  regret,  to  wear  a  yoke,  which  still  preserves  an  appear- 
ance of  independence.  In  the  pleasures  of  Roman  society  and  civilisa- 
tion, the  tributary  Briton  forgot  his  subjection;  but  a  numerous  part  of 
the  population  sternly  refused  all  advantages,  as  unworthy  of  comparison 
with  the  enjoyment  of  liberty.  The  free  and  unconquered  tribes,  by 
the  incessant  annoyance  they  gave  to  the  legions,  made  Britain  a  most 
troublesome  and  precarious  acquisition.  Although  often  coerced,  the 
high-spirited  Celts  were  never  broken-hearted.  The  Caledonians,  al- 
though amazed  at  the  vast  armies  and  fleets  led  against  them,  were  not 
daunted,  but  made  extensive  preparation  for  the  defence  of  their  coun- 
try, and  that  with  so  much  ardor  and  assiduity,  that  Tacitus,,  in  relating 
the  expedition  of  Agricola,  astonished  at  the  greatness  of  their  exertions, 
insinuates  that  it  was  very  much  magnified  by  fame.  Not  only  did 
they  stand  on  the  defensive,  but  immediately  began  to  storm  the  Roman 
forts  and  castles,  and,  by  the  boldness  of  their  proceedings,  struck  Agri- 
cola's  army  with  terror.  When  repulsed  in  an  attack  which  they  made 
on  the  ninth  legion,  they  nevertheless  "  abated  nothing  from  their  feroci- 
ty; they  ascribed  their  failure  to  the  chance  of  war,  and  not  to  their  in- 
feriority, and  boldly  continued  to  keep  the  field."  Defeat  seems  on  this, 
as  on  other  occasions,  to  have  roused  the  Celts  to  greater  exertions 
The  youth,  and  even  the  old  men  poured  to  the  army  from  all  quarters, 
and,  undismayed  by  former  losses,  they  posted  themselves  with  firm  de- 
termination to  stand  for  their  country  and  their  liberties,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Grampians.  There  they  were  indeed  defeated,  but  they  did  not 
submit  to  the  victors.  They  rallied  their  forces  in  the  woods,  and 
checked  the  pursuit.  The  Romans  were  obliged  to  retire  southwards, 
the  Caledonians  followed  them,  retook  the  districts  which  had  been  over- 

*The  Chamavii  and  Angrivarii  vanquished  the  Bructeri  in  a  pitched  battle,  wherein 
the  latter  lost  sixty  thousand  men, to  the  joy  and  recreation  of  the  Romans,"  exclaims 
Tacitus,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  Amor  Patrise. 


100 


PERSEVERING  EFFORTS  OF  THE  CELTS 


run,  demolished  the  fortifications  that  had  been  recently  erected,  and 
again  saw  their  country  freed  from  the  presence  of  their  enemies,  and 
burning  with  revenge,  they  passed  the  walls  and  ravaged  the  northern 
provinces. 

Hadrian,  Severus,  and  other  emperors,  visited  Britain  for  the  express 
purpose  of  subduing  the  refractory  tribes,  and  securing  the  northern 
frontier,  but  their  powerful  armies  and  vigorous  operations  failed  in  sub- 
duing the  stubborn  natives.  Neither  the  formation  of  military  roads,  by 
which  they  were  enabled  to  conduct  armies  with  facility  into  the  reces- 
ses of  the  country,  nor  the  establishment  of  numerous  stations  and  forts 
of  great  strength,  produced  this  desirable  result.  Nor  did  the  high- 
minded  Caledonians  value  the  offer  of  citizenship,  which  they  could  have 
freely  embraced;  but  notwithstanding  the  repeated  losses,  and  severe 
chastisements  which  their  temerity  brought  on  them,  they  obstinately 
preferred  a  life  of  freedom,  to  an  existence  branded  with  the  mark  of 
subjection. 

The  continued  efforts  of  the  Welsh  to  preserve  their  independence, 
were  worthy  of  a  branch  of  the  great  Celtic  race.  Gir.  Cambrensis 
says,  that  Henry  H.  informed  the  Emperor  Emanuel,  that  they  were 
so  warlike,  it  was  easier  to  tame  wild  beasts,  than  daunt  their  courage. 

The  determined  opposition  which  the  Scots  ever  made  to  the  attempts 
of  the  English  Kings,  to  reduce  them  to  subjection,  is  a  proof  of  the 
high  value  they  set  on  national  independence,  and  the  steadiness  with 
which  they  continued  to  protect  it.  Although  the  country  was  repeat- 
edly overrun  by  the  armies  of  England,  the  national  archives  and  rega- 
lia carried  off,  they  valiantly  contended  under  the  illustrious  Wallace 
and  Bruce,  until  they  had  finally  achieved  their  complete  emancipation. 

"It  is  not  glory,"  say  the  Scots  nobility,  in  their  letter  to  Pope  John, 
in  1320,  concerning  their  wrongs,  "it  is  not  riches,  neither  is  it  honor, 
but  it  is  liberty  alone  that  we  fight  and  contend  for,  which  no  honest 
man  will  lose  but  with  his  life." 

The  long  and  persevering  exertions  of  the  Scots,  in  the  cause  of  the 
Stewarts,  is  no  less  worthy  of  remark.  The  misfortunes  of  the  gallant 
Montrose,  and  no  less  worthy  Dundee,  and  the  severe  punishments 
which  their  frequent  rebellions  brought  on  them,  did  not  detach  them 
from  the  interest  of  the  expatriated  family.  After  the  accession  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  the  Highlanders  became  more  submissive;  but  one 
of  Dundee's  unfortunate  officers  says  that  "  nothing  but  King  James' 
special  command  "  could  have  put  a  period  to  the  war  at  that  time. 
The  Clans,  however,  took  the  field  in  1715,  were  in  arms  in  1719,  and 
were  still  ready  to  vindicate  their  supposed  liberties  in  1745,  when  the 
final  struggle  of  the  Celtic  race  for  their  independence  took  place. 

On  this  last  occasion,  the  privations  they  suffered  did  not  impair  their 
ardor.  Their  cheerfulness  never  forsook  them,  even  when  they  were 
in  want  of  almost  every  necessary,  were  surrounded  with  difficulties, 
and  had  to  undergo  extreme  fatigue.     On  their  retreat  from  England, 


HARDIHOOD  OF  THE  GAEL. 


101 


although  they  had  performed  with  astonishing  celerity  a  long  march  in  a 
bad  season,  as  soon  as  they  had  forded  the  Eske,  which  reached  as  high 
as  the  neck,  and  were  in  Scotland,  the  pipers  struck  up  their  favorite 
strath-speys,  and  most  of  the  army  began  to  dance. 

When  the  Highlanders  rendezvoused  at  Ruthven  after  the  battle  at 
Culloden,  instead  of  being  depressed  at  their  loss,  they  scarcely  consid- 
ered it  a  defeat,  but  were  burning  with  impatience  for  revenge.  I  was 
delighted,"  says  the  Chevalier  Johnstone,  "to  see  their  gaiety." 

Civilis,  a  celebrated  German  leader,  attacked  the  Roman  army  four 
times  in  one  day,  and  instances  are  found  of  the  Gauls  maintaining  des- 
perate battles  for  several  successive  days,  such  was  the  persevering  ob- 
stinacy of  these  nations. 

Dundee's  troops  in  many  of  their  marches,  which  were  always  made 
with  wonderful  expedition,  had  neither  bread,  salt,  nor  any  sort  of  liquor 
except  water,  and  that  during  several  weeks,  yet  they  never  complained. 

The  Highlanders  were  well  known  to  be  "a  people,  that  can  endure 
all  the  hardships  of  war,  being  bred  to  all  manner  of  cunning  in  relation 
thereto."* 

Sir  J.  Dalrymple,  in  his  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain,  ii.  p.  53,  thus 
speaks  of  them.  "  The  lightness  and  looseness  of  their  dress,  the  habit 
they  had  of  going  always  on  foot,  and  never  on  horseback,  their  lo\  e  of 
long  journeys,  but  above  all,  that  patience  of  hunger  and  every  kind  of 
hardship,  which  carried  their  bodies  forward,  even  after  their  spirits 
were  exhausted,  made  them  exceed  all  other  European  nations  in  speed 
and  perseverance  of  march.  Montrose's  marches  were  sometimes  sixty 
miles  a  day,  without  food  or  halting,  over  mountains,  along  rocks,  and 
through  morasses,  &c." 

It  is  not  easy,"  says  Home,  "  to  conceive  how  they  really  did  live, 
and  how  they  endured  the  want  of  those  things  which  other  people  call 
the  conveniences  and  even  the  necessaries  of  life." 

When  the  Highland  companies  were  raised  in  the  service  of  govern- 
ment, it  was  soon  observed  that  they  became  less  hardy  than  their  coun- 
trymen who  lived  in  their  wonted  state  of  rudeness  and  freedom. 

*  Scotia  Indiculum,  1682. 


CHAPTER  V. 


CUSTOMS  IN  WAR  AND  MILITARY  TACTICS. 

When  the  Celtag  had  determined  to  engage  in  a  war,  the  various 
states  in  confederation  assembled  in  arms,  to  deliberate  on  the  mode  of 
conducting  the  campaign,  and  to  arrange  the  plan  of  operation,  and  this 
meeting  was  reckoned  the  commencement  of  hostilities.  No  measures 
were  necessary  to  compel  the  attendance,  at  this  convention,  of  any  who 
were  able  to  carry  arms,  which  was  nearly  the  whole  population,  "every 
age  being  most  meet  for  war."  Both  the  old  men  and  the  youth  took 
the  field  with  the  utmost  promptitude  and  enthusiasm,  the  only  anxiety 
being  to  arrive  first  at  the  place  of  meeting.  When  Caractacus  went  to 
battle,  "none  would  stay  at  home;  they  followed  him  freely,  and  main- 
tained themselves  at  their  own  expense."*  No  Gaul  was  ever  known 
to  cut  off  his  thumb,  as  was  done  by  others,  to  prevent  his  going  to  the 
wars,  a  practice  for  which  the  parties  received  the  appellation  Murcos. 
There  is  an  instance  of  a  Welsh  prince  going  to  war  at  the  early  age  of 
ten  years;  and  in  the  Scots'  rebellions,  mere  boys  are  celebrated  for  a 
display  of  bravery  that  would  have  done  honor  to  veteran  soldiers. 

The  Germans  seem  to  have  been  less  punctual  in  their  meetings;  the 
second,  and  sometimes  the  third,  day  elapsed  before  all  had  assembled, 
an  evil  that  apparently  arose  from  the  liberty  they  enjoyed,  in  not  being 
compelled  to  attend  otherwise  than  from  inclination.  Like  the  Gauls, 
they  transacted  nothing  without  being  armed.  They  sat  down  where 
they  chose,  without  any  distinction  of  persons;  and  when  all  had  as- 
sembled, the  priests  enjoined  silence.  The  king  was  first  heard,  and 
ill!  others  according  to  precedence  in  age  or  nobility,  in  warlike  renown 
or  in  eloquence.     If  a  proposition  displeased  the  assembly,  it  was  re- 


Triad,  79.  ap.    Robert's  early  Hist,  of  the  Cymri. 


METHOD  OF  CONVOKING  ASSEMBLIES. 


109 


jected  by  a  slight  murmur;  —  if  pleasing,  it  was  received  by  the  brand- 
ishing of  javelins  and  by  the  rattling  of  their  arms,  which  was  the  most 
honorable  expression  of  assent.*  It  was  customary,  when  a  chief  had 
stated  his  determination  to  lead  an  expedition,  that  those  who  approved 
of  it,  rose  up  before  the  assembly,  and  pledged  themselves  to  follow  him; 
and  to  break  such  an  engagement  was  to  lose  their  honor,  which  they 
could  never  afterwards  regain. | 

No  affair  of  moment  could  be  decided  without  this  general  assembly 
of  the  people.  The  Belgae  held  a  council  to  advise  on  the  means  of 
opposing  Coesar,  and  on  his  advance  other  great  assemblages  took  place. 

It  was  a  hazardous  attempt  for  the  Celtic  chiefs  to  engage  in  war 
without  the  sanction  of  their  people,  notwithstanding  the  strength  of  the 
clannish  attachment,  and  power  of  the  nobility.  An  expedition  into 
Italy  being  undertaken  in  this  irregular  manner,  a  mutiny  ensued,  when 
Gallus  and  Etas,  two  of  their  kings,  lost  their  lives  in  the  tumult. J 
Lord  Murray  raised  one  thousand  men  on  his  father  and  Lord  Lovat's 
estates,  under  an  assurance  that  they  were  to  serve  James,  but,  in  fact, 
to  use  them  in  the  service  of  King  William.  Having  discovered  this, 
while  Murray  was  reviewing  them,  they  suddenly  broke  from  their 
ranks,  ran  to  an  adjoining  brook,  and,  filling  their  bonnets  with  water, 
drank  to  King  James's  health,  and  marched  off,  with  pipes  playing,  to 
join  Lord  Dundee.  § 

The  public  assemblies  were  convoked,  and  an  army  raised  with  aston- 
ishing expedition.  Information  was  speedily  conveyed  throughout  the 
provinces  of  Gaul;  for,  when  an  event  was  learned  by  one  state,  it  was 
immediately  imparted  to  the  others,  a  system  eminently  beneficial  during 
war,  and  for  which  their  swiftness  of  foot  was  well  adapted.  An  action 
that  took  place  near  Genabum,  at  sun  rise,  was  known  at  Arverni,  by 
nine  o'clock  at  night,  a  distance  of  160  miles!  This  telegraphic  rapid- 
ity has  a  parallel  only  in  the  methods  by  which  the  Celtic  nations  of 
Britain  roused  the  various  tribes  to  arms,  while  the  ancient  system  re- 
mained entire.  Fire  was  a  ready  and  effectual  method  of  arousing  the 
inhabitants  of  a  district,  and  the  practice  continued  among  the  High- 
landers until  recent  times.  The  crest  of  the  Mackenzies  is  Tullach  ard, 
with  "the  warning  flame  "  on  its  summit,  being  the  beacon  whence  the 
clan  was  apprised  of  danger;  but  the  most  remarkable  practice  was  by 
the  Croish  or  Cran-taraidh,  the  cross  or  beam  of  gathering  of  the  High- 
landers. When  the  chief  was  aware  of  the  approach  of  an  enemy,  he 
immediately,  with  his  own  sword,  killed  a  goat,  and  dipping  in  the  blood 
the  ends  of  a  cross  of  wood,  that  had  been  half  burned,  gave  it,  with  the 
name  of  the  place  of  meeting,  to  one  of  the  clan,  who  carried  it  with  the 
utmost  celerity  to  the  next  dwelling,  or  put  it  in  the  hands  of  some  one 
he  met,  who  ran  forward  in  the  same  manner,  until,  in  a  few  hours,  the 


*Tac.  de  mor.  Germ.  He  elsewhere  says  it  was  also  customary  with  them  to  beat 
the  ground  with  their  feet.  t  Bello  Gall, 

t  Polybius,  lib.  ii.  §  Dalrymple's  Mem.  part  ii.  b.  i.  p.  45. 


104 


METHODS  OF  RAISING  ARMIES 


>vhole  clan,  from  the  most  remote  situations,  were  collected  in  arms  at 
the  place  appointed.  In  delivering  the  Cran-taraidh,  the  place  of  meet 
ing,  which  was  generally  some  well  known  spot  peculiar  to  each  clan, 
was  the  only  word  that  was  spoken,  the  symbol  itself  was  familiar;  it 
threatened  fire  and  sword  to  those  of  the  tribe  who  did  not  instantly  re- 
pair to  the  standard  of  the  chief  The  last  time  this  singular  custom 
Avas  practised,  was  during  the  rebellion  of  1745,  when  some  disaffected 
person  sent  it  through  Braidalban,  when  it  is  said  to  have  passed  over 
thirty-six  miles  in  three  hours. 

The  Northern  nations  had  a  similar  instrument,  one  end  of  which  was 
burnt,  and  to  the  other  was  fastened  a  cord,  to  denote  that  those  who 
disobeyed  the  summons  should  be  hanged.  It  appears^  to  have  been 
sometimes  hung  on  a  ship's  mast,  which  corresponds  to  the  custom 
among  the  ancient  Gael  of  suspending  a  shield  sprinkled  with  blood, 
in  like  manner,  when  requesting  assistance.* 

It  was  also  usual  to  convey  intelligence,  by  one  or  more  persons  as- 
cending an  eminence,  and  there  raising  a  loud  shout,  which  being  heard 
at  a  distance  by  others,  was  repeated  to  those  who  were  farther  distant, 
and  in  this  manner  information  was  transmitted  with  surprising  expedi- 
tion. This  practice  was  continued  among  the  Irish  and  Welsh  until  late 
times,  and  was  called  the  Hubub.  In  Wales  ^'  when  any  thing  happens, 
a  person  goes  to  an  eminence  and  there  cries  the  Houboub;  those  who 
hear  it  do  the  same,  and  the  country  is  speedily  in  arms."|  Bub,  in 
Gaelic,  is  a  yell. 

The  Piobrach,  among  the  Highlanders,  did  not  supersede  the  use  of 
the  Cran-taraidh.  Although  this  species  of  pipe  music  is  strictly  appro- 
priated to  war,  and  was  played  when  the  forces  were  rising,  yet  it  is 
evident  the  notes  of  that  instrument,  loud  as  they  are,  could  not  answer 
the  purpose  effectually.  Among  the  old  Caledonians,  to  send  an  arrow 
to  any  party  was  a  signal  of  war.  A  symbol  by  which  they  conveyed  a 
wish  for  immediate  conflict  was  a  spear  having  some  burning  matter  at- 
tached to  it. J  The  war  cries  were  also  used  for  gathering  the  respective 
clans,  and  will  be  hereafter  noticed. 

Ammianus  notices  the  facility  with  which  the  Germans  could  renew 
their  armies.  Some  of  these  nations  had  moreover  a  regular  system  of 
recruiting,  for  he  tells  us  that  every  village  sent  one  hundred  men,  and 
hence  arose  the  name  amongst  them,  of  "  those  of  the  hundred  band."  ^ 

It  was  not  unusual  to  engage  tribes  who  were  otherwise  uninterested 
in  the  war,  to  serve  as  mercenaries,  but  it  was  more  generally  the  case 
that  these  auxiliaries  assisted  their  friends  "for  the  like  service  when 
they  required  it,"||  The  Arverni  hired  upwards  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand Germans  in  their  wars  with  the  ^duans.lT    The  Irish  and  Scots 

*  Olaus  Magnus,    M'Pherson  in  Ossian.    Fosbrooke's  Encyc.  of  Ant. 
t  Edmond's  Transl.  of  Caesar's  Commontaries,  p.  154,  &c. 

t  Ossian.  §  Lib.  xvii.  ||  Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10. 

IT  Belle  Gall.  i.  33.     In  Caesar's  time,  Gaul  was  divided  into  these  two  factions. 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THEIR  LEADERS. 


105 


reciprocally  assisted  each  other.  Thus,  Tyione,  in  158G,  sent  (roops  to 
Angus  MacConnal  of  the  Isles,  on  condition  of  receiving  a  like  return; 
and  many  traditional  stories  are  current  in  the  Highlands,  of  chiefs  hav- 
ing lent  their  men  to  their  neighbors,  for  stated  periods  of  service. 

At  the  great  assemblies  of  the  Gauls,  it  was  decided  to  what  chief  the 
supreme  command  should  be  given,  and  whoever  was  thus  appointed, 
his  nation  took  the  lead,  and  gave  name  to  the  whole  confederation,  and 
the  election  was  the  free  choice  of  the  meeting.  The  Beilovaci,  aware 
of  their  superiority  in  numbers  and  renown,  asked  the  command  of  the 
Belgic  forces  that  were  about  to  take  the  field  against  Csesar;  but  Gal- 
ba,  son  of  the  famous  Divitiac,  who  had  raised  the  Suessiones  to  so 
great  power,  was  unanimously  voted  the  command,  from  a  sense  of  his 
justice  and  prudence.  There  was  usually  a  single  leader  appointed  to 
conduct  the  war;  but,  latterly,  two  or  more  were  sometimes  vested  with 
equal  authority.*  It  is  likely  these  elections  sometimes  occasioned  dis- 
putes. Trenmhor,  the  Caledonian  king,  to  reconcile  the  chiefs  who 
were  contending  for  the  honor  of  leading  the  attack,  bade  them  take  the 
command  by  turns.  Among  these  tribes  we  learn  that  the  different 
chiefs,  standing  apart,  struck  their  shields,  to  determine  who  should 
have  the  honor  of  leading  the  war.  The  bards,  who  here  seem  to  have 
come  in  place  of  the  Druids,  attending  in  a  proper  situation  "marked 
the  sounds,"  and  the  owner  of  that  which  they  found  to  ring  loudest, 
obtained  the  appointment. |  The  practice  among  the  ancient  Irish  is 
thus  represented.  Before  entering  on  an  expedition,  the  Ard  Riah,  or 
provincial  chief,  summoned  all  the  people,  who  met  on  the  raths  in 
arms,  and  as  many  as  chose  to  engage  in  the  enterprise  selected  a 
leader,  on  condition  of  a  mutual  division  of  the  spoil,  and,  as  may  be 
supposed,  their  choice  generally  fell  on  the  Ard  Riah.  He  then  com- 
municated the  decision  to  subordinate  Riahs,  and  they  to  the  Aireach, 
who  informed  the  lower  officers  in  the  Rath,  until  all  were  apprised  of 
the  intended  war.  The  equal  division  of  the  spoil  was  strictly  observed. 
It  is  related  of  Clovis,  that  having  requested  on  one  occasion  a  certain 
vase,  was  answered  that  he  should  receive  nothing  but  what  by  lot  he 
had  a  right  to,  and  indignantly  struck  the  vessel  to  pieces  with  his  axe. 

On  the  election  of  a  commander,  he  was  carried  about,  seated  on 
a  shield,  carried  on  men's  shoulders.  Brinno,  a  Caninefatian,  being 
chosen,  was  thus  borne  in  procession,  according  to  the  ancient  custom. J 

A  council  of  officers,  or  subordinate  commanders,  was  appointed  to 
these  Generals,  who  are  poetically  styled  "rulers  of  the  war"  by  the 
Caledonian  bards,  and,  although,  as  commanders  in  chief,  they  were  in- 
vested with  a  supreme  power,  yet  they  were  so  controlled  by  the  popu- 
lar constitution  of  their  tribes,  that  they  dared  not  abuse  their  authority. 
They  were,  in  fact,  accountable  to  the  people  for  their  conduct,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  ties  of  consanguinity,  by  which  the  chief  was  linked  to 
his  followers,  he  was  sometimes  impeached,  and  even  put  to  death.  We 


Amm  Mar.  xvi.  10. 

14 


t  Catholda. 


t  Tacitus. 


106 


PECULIAR  OATHS. 


find  the  Gallic  leaders,  after  the  loss  of  a  battle,  of  a  town,  or  suffering 
any  other  disaster,  very  anxious  to  vindicate  themselves  to  their  constit- 
uents from  the  charge  of  mismanagement.  The  Burgundian  King,  who, 
by  a  general  name,  was  called  Hendinos,  was  deposed,  if  a  war  under 
his  direction  turned  out  unsuccessful.* 

If  the  troops  had  sufficient  power  to  control  the  chief,  he  had  gener- 
ally the  prudence  to  yield  to  their  desires.  The  German  soldiers,  on 
occasion  of  a  battle  with  the  Romans,  obliged  their  leaders  to  alight  from 
their  horses  and  fight  in  the  ranks  with  their  men,  that  they  might  have  no 
advantage  over  them,  or,  in  case  of  defeat,  might  be  able  to  make  their 
escape.  The  Princes  instantly  complied  with  the  wisKof  their  troops, 
and,  charging  at  their  head,  cut  their  way  to  the  main  body  of  the  ene- 
my.! 

The  Gallic  Princes  are  always  found  in  the  field  of  battle,  and  usually 
where  the  fight  was  hottest.  It  was,  however,  a  singular  custom  among 
the  Caledonian  chiefs  to  retire  a  little  distance,  and  not  join  in  the  com- 
bat, unless  on  pressing  occasions,  when  their  immediate  presence  was 
necessary  to  inspirit  and  rally  their  troops.  "When  mighty  danger  rose, 
then  was  the  hour  of  the  king  to  conquer  in  the  field."  J 

It  was  customary  for  the  Celtae  to  confirm  their  decisions  by  oath,  and 
their  most  sacred  obligation  was  swearing  before  or  under  their  stand- 
ards,§  but  several  other  forms  of  asseveration  are  preserved.  The  In- 
subrians  swore  they  would  not  unloose  their  belts  until  they  had  sacked 
Rome.  On  another  occasion,  the  Gauls,  who  had  taken  up  arms,  unan- 
imously emitted  a  prayer,  that  the  Gods  might  never  more  suffer  them 
to  return  to  their  homes,  if  they  failed  in  prosecuting  the  war  with  due 
ardor,  and  that  they  might  be  no  more  acknowledged  by  their  wives, 
their  children,  or  their  relations.  ||  The  Germans  sealed  a  truce,  with  a 
form  of  oath  according  to  their  own  fashion. IT  When  Caractacus  re- 
ceived the  command  of  the  Silures,  they  all  took  a  most  solemn  vow 
"  never  to  yield  to  arms,  or  wounds,  or  aught  save  death."**  The  Cale- 
donians under  Galgacus  confirmed  their  engagements  with  sacrifices  and 
the  immolation  of  victims;!!  from  the  work  of  an  ancient  Bard  we 
find  that  swearing  by  the  sun  was  the  most  solemn  oath  of  these  moun- 
taineers. It  is  related  of  Manos,  in  an  ancient  poem,  that  having  sworn 
on  his  shield,  and  broken  his  oath,  he  was  universally  despised. 

The  Gaelic  chiefs  also,  as  a  bond  of  indissoluble  friendship,  sometimes 
drank  a  few  drops  of  each  others'  blood;  and  to  violate  this  sacred  pledge 
was  infamy  through  life.§^  The  Irish  had  a  similar  custom,  but  accom- 
panied with  many  superstitious  observances.  They  went  to  a  church, 
where  they  were  carried  on  each  other's  back  a  few  paces  in  a  circular 
form,  kissing  the  relics,  &c.;  then  each  drawing  a  little  of  his  blood,  it 

*  Amm.  Mar.  xviii.  12.  t  Ibid.  xvi.  10.  t  Ossian. 

§  Bello  Gall.  vii.  2.  ||  Bello  Gall.  vii.  29.  f  Amm.  Mar.  xvii.  1. 

**  Tacitus,  Annal.  xii.  +t  Tacitus.  tt  Smith's  Gallic  Ant 

§  §  Martin's  West.  Islands,  p.  107. 


THE  CHIEF'S  BODY  GUARD. 


107 


was  mutually  drank.*  In  the  worship  of  Hertha,  the  Northern  nations 
swore  fast  brotherhood  by  cutting  a  long  strip  of  green  sod,  leaving  one 
end  attached  to  the  earth,  when  the  other  being  raised  on  the  top  of  a 
spear,  they  passed  under  it,  wounding  themselves  and  mixing  the  blood 
and  earth  together.  The  ceremony  was  completed  by  fal  Ing  on  their 
knees,  and  solemnly  pledging  themselves  to  inviolable  friendship. j"  The 
common  form  of  swearing  among  the  Highlanders  was  upon  a  drawn 
dirk,  which  they  usually  kissed.  Martin  tells  us  it  was  reckoned  a  great 
indignity  to  assert  any  thing  by  the  hand  of  a  father;  but  if  to  this,  one 
were  to  add  that  of  a  grandfather,  the  answer  to  be  expected  was  a 
knock  down  blow.  Each  clan  appears  to  have  formed  an  oath  for  itself. 
The  name  of  the  chief  seems  to  have  been  in  this  respect  highly  vene- 
rated, and  many  do  not  appear  to  have  thought  swearing  on  the  Gospels 
more  binding.  It  is  related  of  a  Highlander,  that  readily  offering  to  kiss 
the  bible,  the  prosecutor  shrewdly  suspecting  the  reason,  tendered  the 
clan  oath,  which  the  witness  absolutely  refused  to  take.  When  a  High- 
lander took  an  oath  on  the  sacred  volume,  he  did  not  kiss  it,  which  in- 
deed is  not  the  practice  in  Scotland,  but  held  up  his  hand,  and  said  to 
this  purpose:  "By  God  himself,  and  as  I  shall  answer  to  God  at  the 
great  day,  I  shall  speak  the  truth:  if  I  do  not,  may  I  never  thrive  while 
I  live;  may  I  go  to  hell  and  be  damned  when  I  die;  may  my  land  bear 
neither  grass  nor  corn;  may  my  wife  and  bairns  never  prosper;  may  my 
cows,  calves,  sheep,  and  lambs,  all  perish.  Sec.  "J  The  Irish,  before  an 
attack,  swore  on  their  swords,  with  which  they  made  a  cross,  and,  mut- 
tering charms,  stuck  their  points  in  the  ground.^  In  1578,  nineteen  of 
the  Earl  of  Desmond's  followers  forswore  God  if  they  spared  life,  land, 
or  goods,  in  enabling  him  to  resist  the  lord-deputy.  ||  To  swear  by  the 
hand  of  their  chief,  was  a  most  solemn  oath.  If  found  to  have  made  a 
false  asseveration,  and  such  a  case  is  not  impossible,  the  landlord,  we 
are  told,  made  them  pay  soundly  for  it.  O'Neil's  peculiar  oath  was  by 
Bachull  Murry,  or  St.  Murran's  staff,  which  is  said  to  be  still  preserved 
"By  the  blessed  stone!"  is  an  expression  of  the  present  Irish.  To 
swear  on  the  black  stones,  was  a  solemn  oath  of  the  West  Islanders. 

The  Celtic  chiefs  took  great  pride  in  being  surrounded  by  a  numerous 
band  of  choice  troops  as  guards.  These  were  his  own  relations  and 
clients,  who  were  devoted  to  his  service,  and  were  the  finest  men  of  the 
tribe.  The  body  guards  of  Brennus,  as  they  stood  around  him  at  Del- 
phos,  were  remarked  as  the  tallest  men  of  all  his  army. IT  The  Germans 
were  no  less  emulous  in  the  number  and  appearance  of  their  followers 
than  the  Gauls.  It  was  their  pride  to  be  surrounded  by  a  company  of 
chosen  young  men  for  ornament  and  glory  in  peace, — security  and  de- 

*  Gir.  Camb.  ap.  Campion.    The  Scythians,  to  bind  their  contracts,  pricked  them- 
selves in  the  arm,  and  drank  each  others'  blood.    Herodotus.  f  Dr.  Hibbert. 
%  Birt.    The  Irish  thought  the  bigger  the  book  was,  the  greater  the  oath. 
§  Spenser.                                                         ]|  Desiderata  curiosa  Hibernica. 
f  Pausanias,  x,  23. 


108 


THE  CATHARN  OR  KERN. 


fence  in  war.  In  battle,  it  was  a  shame  for  the  Prince  to  be  surpassed 
in  feats  of  prowess,  and  scandalous  for  his  followers  not  to  equal  their 
chief;  and  it  was  lasting  infamy  for  them  to  return  from  the  conflict 
when  their  leader  was  slain.*  Such  a  body  was  the  Soldurii  of  the 
Gauls,  "  sworn  friends,"  who  never  survived  their  commander.  Adcan- 
tuan  of  Aquitain  had  six  hundred  of  these  followers. 

The  Luchdtachk  of  the  Highlanders  was  an  exactly  similar  body  in 
organization  and  devotion  to  their  chief,  and  it  was  composed  of  young 
men  of  the  best  families  in  the  clan,  who  were  expressly  educated  for 
the  service.  They  were  anciently  armed  with  darts  and  dirks,  and  their 
special  duty  was  to  attend  the  person  of  their  chief.^  Their  favorite 
amusement  was  wrestling,  at  which  they  were  most  expert;  and  when 
the  chiefs  were  visiting  each  other,  it  was  usual  for  their  followers  to 
begin  this  exercise,  which  they  did  with  great  emulation,  often,  when 
not  prevented,  resorting  to  downright  fighting.  This  company  was 
usually  selected  by  the  heir,  or  Tanist,  who  was  himself  obliged  to  de- 
monstrate his  right  to  command  them,  and  his  claim  to  the  cliieftainship, 
by  giving  a  specimen  of  his  valor.  It  was,  therefore,  customary  for  him 
to  lead  them  on  some  desperate  foray,  from  which  they  were  expected  to 
bring  home  a  prey  of  cattle  or  other  spoil,  or  die  in  the  attempt.  After 
this  exploit,  if  successful,  the  fame  of  the  young  chief  and  his  associates 
was  fully  established.  These  companies  were  called  Catharn,  a  word 
signifying  fighting  bands,  otherwise  pronounced  Cearnachs  and  Kerns, 

As  it  must  have  been  the  ambition  of  all  the  young  men  to  enrol  them- 
selves in  the  Catharn,  they  were  most  likely  in  some  cases  numerous; 
but,  except  in  actual  war,  the  chief  carried  no  more  attendants  with  him 
than  those  who  composed  his  regular  retinue,  or  tail;  an  establishment 
by  no  means  scanty,  for  it  comprised  ten  or  more  persons,  besides  sever- 
al others,  who  found  some  pretext  or  other  for  their  presence. 

A  company  of  soldiers  like  the  Catharn  required  to  be  kept  in  action, 
and  as  the  tribe  could  not  be  always  at  war,  they  undertook  expeditions 
to  revenge  old  injuries,  and  procure  booty,  or  exalt  their  military  fame; 
but  the  favorite  recreation  with  these  warriors  was  to  make  a  foray  on 
the  Lowland  plains,  and  enrich  themselves  by  a  valuable  creach.  Hence 
the  name  of  Cearnach  was  reckoned  honorable,  and  was  applicable  to 
those  chiefs  who  distinguished  themselves;  as  Rob  Roy  M'Gregor, 
Mac  Donald  of  Barisdale,  Gilderoy,  and  others,  have  done.  These 
men  were  far  from  thinking  so  meanly  of  themselves  as  their  Lowland 
countrymen  did,  who  had  often  too  much  reason  to  dread  the  visits  of 
"the  Catrin." 

The  Lusitanian  young  men  associated  in  bodies  in  the  mountains, 
which  they  occupied  as  if  it  were  formed  by  nature  solely  for  themselves, 
and  from  whence  they  made  incursions  into  Spain  and  amassed  great 
riches  by  their  robberies;  and,  although  the  Romans  checked,  they  were 
unable  to  put  an  end  to  these  inroads. 


*  Tacitus  de  mor.  Germ. 


MODE  OF  DRAWING  UP  ARMIES. 


109 


The  following  character  may  compare  with  Mac  Gregor  or  Wallace 
himself,  and  is  a  curious  specimen  of  an  ancient  Celtic  Cearnach.  Tlie 
account  is  extracted  from  the  preserved  fragments  of  the  lost  books  of 
Diodorus  the  Sicilian.  Viriathus  of  Lusitania,  a  captain  of  those  rob- 
bers, was  of  incredible  sobriety  and  vigilance.  He  was  just  and  exact 
in  dividing  the  spoil,  and  rewarding  those  who  had  behaved  themselves 
valiantly  in  battle;  and  in  its  distribution  he  never  took  a  greater  share 
to  himself  than  what  was  assigned  to  others;  nor  did  he  ever  convert  to 
his  own  use  any  of  the  public  moneys,  and  therefore  his  men  never  shrunk 
from  any  undertaking,  however  hazardous,  when  he  commanded  and  led 
them  on.  In  his  leagues  and  treaties  he  was  exactly  faithful  to  his 
word,  and  always  spoke  plainly  and  sincerely  what  he  intended.  When, 
at  his  marriage,  many  gold  and  silver  cups,  and  all  sorts  of  rich  carpets, 
were  set  forth  to  grace  the  solemnity,  he  held  all  on  the  point  of  his 
lance,  not  with  admiration,  but  rather  with  scorn  and  contempt.  When 
he  had  spoken  for  a  considerable  time  with  much  wisdom  and  prudence, 
he  concluded  with  many  apposite  and  forcible  expressions,  particularly 
with  this  very  remarkable  one  *****  By  this  saying,  he  meant  to 
show  that  it  was  the  greatest  imprudence  to  trust  in  the  uncertain  gifts  of 
Fortune,  since  all  those  riches,  so  much  esteemed  by  his  father-in-law, 
were  liable  to  be  carried  off  by  some  one,  on  his  spear's  point.  He  far- 
ther added,  that  his  father-in-law  ought  rather  to  thank  him,  who  was 
lord  of  all,  for  taking  nothing  of  him.  Viriathus,  therefore,  neither 
washed  nor  sat  down,  although  entreated  to  do  so,  nor  did  he  partake  of 
the  rich  dishes  of  meat,  with  which  the  table  was  plentifully  spread,  but 
took  and  distributed  some  bread  and  flesh  among  those  that  came  along 
with  him.  After  he  had  little  more  than  tasted  the  meat  himself,  he  order- 
ed his  bride  to  be  brought  to  him,  and  having  sacrificed  in  manner  of  the 
Celtiberians,  he  mounted  her  on  horseback,  and  straightway  carried  her 
away  to  the  mountains;  for  he  accounted  sobriety  and  temperance  the 
greatest  riches,  and  the  liberty  of  his  country,  gained  by  valor,  the  sur- 
est possession.  For  eleven  years  he  commanded  the  Lusitani,  who, 
after  his  death,  were  broken  and  dispersed.  He  was  buried  with  great 
pomp  and  state.  Two  hundred  gladiators  were  matched  singly  with  as 
many  more,  and  fought  duels  at  his  sepulchre,  in  honor  of  a  man  who 
was  so  remarkably  valiant  and  just."! 

The  Gauls  are  said  to  have  sat  down  when  they  were  drawn  up  in 
order  of  battle.  J  The  passage  is  thought  by  some  to  be  corrupted;  by 
others,  it  is  explained  as  meaning  that  the  troops  rested  on  their  fas- 
cines or  baggage,  of  which  they  always  carried  a  great  quantity,  arrang- 
nig  the  wagons  around  the  camp  as  a  sort  of  entrenchment,  behind 
which  they  made  a  most  obstinate  defence  when  hard  pressed.  The 
fascines  were  sometimes  set  on  fire,  and  an  army  effected  its  retreat 
under  cover  of  the  dense  smoke. 

*  This  part  is  unfortunately  lost. 

t  Diodorus  Sic.  Fragmenta  Valesii,  lib.  xx.  §  93,  99,  and  108.        t  Bello  Gall.  viii. 


110 


RIGHT  OF  CLANS  TO  CERTAIN  POSITIONS. 


The  Germans  pitched  down  their  standards  immediately  on  halting  or 
taking  up  a  position.*  It  does  not  appear  in  what  order  the  Celtic  ar- 
mies marched.  When  the  Caledonians  passed  through  the  territories 
of  a  friendly  tribe,  they  reversed  their  spears,  carrying  the  points  be- 
hind. 

Both  Gauls  and  Germans  were  invariably  drawn  up  in  different  batt  i- 
lia,  the  disposal  of  which  appears  to  have  been  so  well  determined  from 
ancient  times,  that  the  chief  in  command  dared  scarcely  venture  to  make 
any  variation.  Each  tribe  fought  under  the  immediate  direction  of  its 
own  chieftain,  and  was,  if  possible,  assigned  that  position,  which,  ac- 
cording to  order  and  precedence,  had  been  long  settled.  Vercingetorix, 
a  celebrated  Gallic  chief,  "disposed  his  army  according  to  their  seve- 
ral districts."!  In  the  British  army,  under  the  renowned  Caradoc,  or 
Caractacus,  whose  fame  had  excited  a  universal  desire  in  Italy  to  be- 
hold so  noble  a  warrior,  we  find  "the  troops  of  the  several  countries 
stood  in  front  of  their  fortifications;  "  and  when  the  unfortunate  Bondiu- 
ca  fought  her  last  disastrous  battle,  the  warriors  stood  in  separate  bands. 
A  common  mode  of  drawing  up  a  British  army,  in  the  fifth  century,  was 
in  nine  divisions,  three  of  which  were  in  front,  three  in  the  centre,  and 
three  in  the  rear.  J 

The  right  of  certain  situations  in  a  field  of  battle  was  accounted  a 
point  of  extreme  importance  among  the  Celts.  At  the  battle  of  the 
Standard,  1138,  the  Picts  contended  for  their  right  to  lead  the  van  of 
the  Scots'  army,  and  their  claim  was  allowed.  On  that  occasion,  the 
third  line  was  formed  of  the  clans  under  the  command  of  their  different 
chiefs. 

The  Highlanders  have  always  been  most  jealous  of  their  accustomed 
right  to  certain  positions  in  the  line  of  battle,  and  rather  than  submit  to 
the  indignity  of  being  placed  in  any  other  situation  than  that  to  which 
they  were  entitled,  they  would  allow  their  army  to  be  disgraced  by  de- 
feat. A  fatal  omission  on  the  part  of  Prince  Charles,  in  1745,  occasion- 
ed him  the  loss  of  that  battle,  which  finally  terminated  the  hopes  of  his 
family.  On  the  field  of  Culloden,  the  Mac  Donalds  were  unfortunately 
placed  on  the  left  instead  of  the  right  wing,  to  which  they  asserted  an 
ancient  right,  and  not  a  man  but  the  heroic  Keppoch  would  draw  a 
sword  that  day.  An  officer  of  that  division  thus  writes  concerning  the 
conduct  of  his  clan.  "We,  of  the  clan  Mac  Donalds,  thought  it  omi- 
nous we  had  not  this  day  the  right-hand  in  battle,  as  formerly,  and  as  we 
enjoyed  when  the  event  proved  successful,  as  at  Gladsmuir  and  Falkirk, 
and  which  our  clan  maintains  we  had  enjoyed  in  all  our  battles  and 
struggles  in  behalf  of  our  royal  family,  since  the  battle  of  Bannockburn, 
on  which  glorious  day  Robert  the  Bruce  bestowed  this  honor  upon  An- 
gus Mac  Donald,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  as  a  reward  for  his  never-to-be- 
forgot  fidelity  to  that  brave  prince,  in  protecting  him  for  above  nine 
months  in  his  country  of  Rachlin,  Isla,  and  Uist.    This  right  we 


*  Amm.  Marcel,  xxvii.  9. 


t  Bello  Gall.  vii.  18. 


t  Vegetius  ii.  2. 


MODE  OF  DRAWING  UP  ARMIES. 


Ill 


have,  I  say,  enjoyed  ever  since,  unless  when  yielded  by  us  out  of  favor 
upon  particular  occasions,  as  was  done  to  the  Laird  of  Mac  Lean, 
at  the  battle  of  Harlaw;  but  our  sweet-natured  prince  was  prevailed 
on  by  L.  and  his  faction  to  assign  this  honor  to  another  on  this  fatal 
day,  which  right,  we  judge,  they  will  not  refuse  to  yield  us  back  again 
on  the  next  fighting  day."*  These  Mac  Donalds  were  not  of  the 
opinion  of  an  ancient  lord  of  that  name.  He  had,  by  some  mistake, 
at  an  entertainment,  been  prevented  from  taking  his  place  at  the  head 
of  the  table,  which  occasioned  several  remarks  among  the  guests. 
On  being  told  what  engaged  their  attention,  he  exclaimed  aloud, 
Know,  gentlemen,  that  where  Mac  Donald  sits,  that  is  the  head  of  the 
table." 

The  Saxons  retained  the  ancient  custom  of  arranging  their  armies  by 
tribes,  the  head  of  a  family  leading  all  the  members  to  battle.  The 
Tricastines,  a  people  who  lived  about  Troies,  assaulted  the  Empe- 
ror Julian's  army  by  troops,  while  their  main  body  was  drawn  up  with 
strong  wings  and  flanks,  close  together. f  Ammianus  describes  an 
army  as  being  led  by  two  kings,  who  were  joint  commanders,  next  to 
whom  were  five  princes,  second  in  rank  to  the  kings  and  the  princes 
of  the  blQod  royal. J  The  Caledonian  kings  were  accustomed  to  retire 
to  an  eminence  the  night  previous  to  a  battle,  apparently  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining,  by  visions  from  their  ancestors,  a  knowledge  of  the  result 
of  the  impending  conflict.  The  Scandinavians  appear  also  to  have  used 
this  custom. §  The  German  battalions  were  formed  sharp  in  front,  or 
drawn  up  in  a  triangular  figure.  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  Batavi,  says, 
this  body  was  impenetrable  on  every  side,  and  in  advancing  it  pierced 
through  the  firtnest  legions. ||  The  army  of  Donald  of  the  Isles,  at  the 
battle  of  Harlaw,  was  drawn  up  in  the  cuniform  order,  and  old  Highland- 
ers sometimes  even  now  speak  of  Geinneach-cath,  the  wedge  form, 
without  appearing  to  know  its  meaning.  The  name  of  a  Pictish  cohort 
seems  never  to  have  been  understood.  It  was  called  Geone,  and  was 
no  other  than  the  wedge-formed  battalion. IT 

The  old  Irish  are  represented  as  marching  forward  "  with  three  and 
three  in  ranckes  beset,"  and  crowding  together  when  on  the  point  of 
engaging.**  Their  armies  had  also  many  "loose  wings."  The  High- 
landers were  accustomed  to  arrange  themselves  three  deep,  and,  by  sim- 
ply facing  about,  the  regiment  was  in  marching  order.  When  the  Gauls 
were  drawn  up  ready  for  battle,  they  indulged  in  the  most  opprobri- 
ous and  provoking  language  towards  their  enemies.  In  "  a  letter  from 
a  soldier  in  Ireland,  1602,"  Tyrone's  men  are  represented  as  advancing 
within  sixty  paces  of  the  English  horse,  and  then  stopping  after  their 
fashion,  shaking  their  staves,  and  "  railingly  vaunting."    Arrian  notices 

*  Note  in  Memoirs  of  Chevalier  Johnstone,  quoted  from  Lockhart's  papers,  ii.  510. 
t  Amm.  Mar.  xvi.  1.  t  xvi.  10. 

§  Ossian.  ||  De  mor.  Germ. 

Adomnan,  i.  33.  **  Derrick's  Image  of  Ireland. 


112 


MODE  OF  ATTACK. 


how  grievously  provoking  the  Celts  were,  and  jElian  has  a  chapter  on 
their  audacity.  The  practice  of  using  scornful  and  contemptuous  lan- 
guage on  such  occasions  was  not,  however,  peculiar  to  the  Celtoe.  The 
refined  Greeks  did  not  hesitate  to  use  reviling  language  in  battle.* 

Before  an  engagement,  it  was  usual  for  some  to  step  out,  and,  brand- 
ishing their  weapons,  challenge  the  stoutest  of  their  opponents  to  single 
combat.  If  any  one  accepted  the  challenge,  the  Celtic  warriors  sang 
loudly  in  praise  of  the  valor  of  their  ancestors  and  their  own  virtues, 
vilifying  their  adversaries,  and  insulting  them  for  want  of  courage  and 
military  renown, | 

From  the  success  of  the  parties,  they  anticipated  victory  or  defeat 
in  the  general  engagement.  Another  method  was  to^get  hold,  by  any 
means,  of  one  of  the  enemy,  with  whom  they  set  one  of  their  own  men 
to  fight,  each  armed  in  his  own  way,  and  from  the  fate  of  the  combatants 
a  presage  of  the  war  was  drawn.  It  was,  perhaps,  from  this,  that  the 
anxiety  of  the  Caledonians,  to  draw  the  first  blood  in  any  military  expe- 
dition, arose.  It  was  not  necessary  that  it  should  be  that  of  an  enemy; 
to  make  sure  work,  the  Highlanders,  from  time  immemorial,  never  failed 
to  sacrifice  the  first  animal  that  came  in  their  way;  and,  anciently,  they 
used  to  sprinkle  the  blood  on  their  colors,  to  prevent  mistake  as  to 
priority.  The  detachment  of  rebels  under  Lord  Lewis  Gordon,  who 
defeated  a  party  of  the  king's  forces  at  Inverury,  in  1745,  ripped  up  a 
sow  with  young,  that  presented  itself,  as,  in  the  morning,  they  passed 
by  the  mill  of  Keith  Hall. 

The  attack  of  the  Celts  was  made  by  a  deafening  shout  from  the  whole 
army,  which  was  returned  by  the  women  and  children,  who  were  gener- 
ally close  in  the  rear.  In  night  assaults,  the  greatest  silence  was  pre- 
served until  the  moment  of  "onslaught,"  when  an  appalling  cry  was 
raised,  adding  much  to  the  alarm  of  the  enemy.  The  practice  of  shout- 
ing was  common  to  all  Celtic  nations.  The  Irish,  we  find,  made  "a 
most  terrible  noise  of  crieing."  It  appears  to  have  been  the  Prosnacha- 
cath,  or  incentive  to  battle,  of  the  Caledonians,  which  afterwards  became 
a  regular  song  or  piece  of  music  among  these  clans,  and  is  allied  to  the 
Gaelic  cath  ghairm,  or  gaoir  catha,  a  war  cry,  and  the  Slagau  of  the  Low 
country.  The  battle-shout  called  Barritus,  says  Ammianus,  xvi.  ii.  be- 
gins in  a  slight  humming,  and  rises  higher,  like  beating  of  waves. 
This  cry  seems  to  have  been  used  by  the  old  Romans. 

The  first  assault  of  a  Celtic  army  was  tremendous.  They  ran  on  with 
such  fury  that  they  made  whole  legions  recoil; J  but  it  has  been  also  ob- 
served that  they  were  always  most  vigorous  in  the  first  onset,  their  ardor 
gradually  subsiding  if  unsuccessful,  for  their  best  qualifications  were 
strength  and  audacity. §  The  strong  resemblance  of  the  Celts  of  modern 
limes  to  their  remote  ancestors,  in  this  respect,  is  remarkable.  The 
Highlanders  of  1745  retained  all  the  bravery  and  heroism  of  the  race, 


Pausan.  iv.  8. 


f  Diod. 


t  Appian. 


§  Strabo. 


MILITARY  TACTICS. 


lis 


but  "the  chiefs  knew  no  other  manoeuvre  than  that  of  rushing  upon 
the  enemj^,  sword  in  hand,  as  soon  as  they  saw  them."*  At  Floddon 
Field, 

"  The  Highland  battalion  so  forward  and  valiant, 
They  broke  from  their  ranks  and  rushed  on  to  slay  ; 
With  hacking  and  slashing  and  broad  swords  a  dashing, 
Through  the  front  of  the  English  they  cut  a'  full  way." 

And  at  Prestonpans  the  rebels  advanced  with  a  swiftness  not  to  be  con- 
ceived.! Dio  describes  the  Caledonian  infantry  as  swift  in  running  and 
firm  in  standing.  An  old  writer,  describing  the  Irish,  says  they  were 
impetuous  in  their  first  onset,  clashing  their  swords  as  they  advanced; 
but,  if  repulsed,  they  speedily  retreated  to  the  bogs. 

The  Germans,  on  one  occasion,  are  described,  when  engaging  the 
Romans  under  Constantius,  as  in  the  greatest  heat.  At  the  most  early 
dawn  of  day  they  were  seen  running  up  and  down,  brandishing  their 
swords,  grating  their  teeth,  and  pouring  forth  dreadful  menaces. J  This 
was  surely  a  most  useless  way  of  exhausting  themselves,  but  it  was  quite 
characteristic,  for  they  are  again  represented  as  raging  about,  with  hide- 
ous gnashing  of  teeth,  and  eyes  darting  fury,  until  they  were  puffing 
and  blowing  hard,  as  they  well  might,  from  such  insane  exertion. §  The 
Gauls  are  allowed  to  have  made  a  most  furious  onset;  but  after  the  first 
heat  was  over,  they  generally  became  disheartened.  They  seem  to 
have,  in  the  first  place,  aimed  at  securing  victory  by  an  overwhelming 
assault,  and,  on  its  failure,  to  have  resorted  to  stratagem.  Tacitus  ob- 
served this  practice  among  the  Germans,  who  did  not  reckon  it  dishon- 
orable to  retreat  when  the  battle  was  unfavorable.  It  was  esteemed 
good  policy  to  retire,  that  they  might  renew  the  fight  with  more  advan- 
tage. ||  A  French  writer,  in  1547,  characterizes  the  Scots  as  "  plus 
propre  a  faire  des  courses  qu'  a  combattre:  bons  pour  un  coup  de  main 
ou  pour  une  surprise."  Better  is  a  good  retreat,  than  a  bad  stand,  says 
the  Gaelic  proverb. 

Neither  Gauls  nor  Britons  depended  entirely  on  their  strength  and 
valor  for  success.  Their  favorite  military  tactics  were  those  of  strata- 
gem and  surprise,  to  which  the  nature  of  the  country,  the  state  of  society, 
and  predatory  character  of  their  wars,  were  adapted.  They  were  most 
expert  in  these  arts,  and  possessed  such  consummate  skill  in  retreat  and 
desultory  attack,  that  the  Roman  Generals  were  extremely  perplexed 
and  annoyed  by  this  system  of  warfare.  It  was  certainly  the  wisdom  of 
these  nations  to  avail  themselves  of  all  means  of  harassing  and  weak- 
ening so  formidable  an  enemy  as  the  veteran  and  well  provided  legions 
of  Rome. 

Whenever  the  Britons  found  a  party  of  the  enemy  at  a  distance  from 
the  camp,  employed  in  foraging  or  otherwise,  they  fell  suddenly  upon 
them,  and  often  cut  them  entirely  off.    They  sometimes  cut  down  the 

*  Mem  of  Chev.  Johnstone.  t  Col.  Whitefoord's  Evidence, 

t  A  mm  Mar.  xvi.  3.  §  Ibid.  xvi.  10  ||  De  mor.  Germ. 

15 


114 


VALOR  AND  INFLUENCE 


woods  to  retard  pursuit.*  It  was  also  usual  for  them  to  feign  a  retreat, 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  a  party  from  the  main  body,  when,  being 
enticed  into  the  woods  or  other  fastnesses,  they  were,  by  a  furious  as- 
sault, put  to  the  sword.  So  much  did  the  Roman  army  suffer  from  these 
disasters,  that  CiEsar  was  obliged  to  issue  strict  orders  that  none  should, 
on  any  pretence,  leave  the  camp.  These  ambuscades  were  not  to  be 
detected:  parties  were  suddenly  surprised  and  annihilated,  when  the 
vicinity  of  an  enemy  was  not  suspected;  and  when  a  body  of  troops  were 
sent  in  pursuit  of  the  assailants,  they  were  nowhere  to  be  found.  Often 
when  victory  seemed  secured  to  the  Roman  arms,  the  Britons,  retreating 
to  marshes  and  fastnesses,  unexpectedly  rallied,  and,  with  a  desperate  fury 
and  an  impetuous  onset,  they  would  check  the  foremost  pursuers,  throw 
them  into  confusion,  and  compel  them  to  retrograde  with  the  utmost 
celerity.  Numbers  suffered  in  this  manner  after  the  battle  of  the  Gram- 
pians, and  on  many  other  occasions.  The  Gauls,  who,  in  the  time  of 
Asdrubal,  invaded  Italy  with  an  army  of  70,000  men,  gained  their  first 
battle  with  ^milius  by  feigning  a  retreat. "j"  The  Morini,  a  people  who 
inhabited  the  country  about  Terouenne,  suddenly  attacked  Caesar  from 
the  woods  into  which  they  had  decoyed  his  troops,  and,  having  put  most 
part  to  the  sword,  made  good  their  own  retreat, J  It  was  a  well  planned 
attack,  or  a  most  lucky  turn  of  fortune,  that  enabled  a  body  of  800  Ger- 
man horse  to  surprise  and  completely  rout  a  detachment  of  5000  Roman 
cavalry. t 

It  was  usual  with  the  Gallic  nations  before  an  engagement,  or  during 
the  heat  of  war,  to  remove  their  women,  their  children,  and  their  aged 
men  out  of  the  way  of  danger.  They  were  placed  in  the  fastnesses  of 
the  country,  or  in  their  regular  strong  holds.  The  Nervii  having  taken 
the  field  with  an  army  of  60,000  fighting  men,  before  engaging  the  Ro- 
mans, placed  their  old  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  bogs;^  and  the 
Caledonians,  before  the  battle  of  the  Grampians,  sent  their  wives  and 
children  to  places  of  safety.  || 

But  the  Gallic  ladies  were  not  always  accustomed  to  shun  the  dangers 
of  the  field.  They  were  in  the  practice  of  sharing  the  fatigues  of  the 
chase,  and  they  frequently  lent  their  vigorous  assistance  in  the  turmoil 
of  battle,  undismayed  by  the  horrors  of  the  fiercest  encounter.  When 
the  Cimbri  engaged  the  Romans,  "  the  women  attacked  them  with  swords 
and  axes,  and,  making  a  hideous  outcry,  fell  upon  those  that  fled,  as  well 
as  their  pursuers,  the  former  as  traitors,  the  latter  as  enemies;  and  mix- 
ing with  the  soldiers,  with  their  bare  arms,  pulled  away  the  shields  of  the 
Romans  and  laid  hold  of  their  swords,  enduring  the  wounding  and  slash- 
ing of  their  bodies  to  the  very  last  with  undaunted  resolution.  "IF  The 
Northern  nations  had  their  skiold  moer,  or  shield  maids,  who  went  into 
battle. 

On  a  certain  occasion  we  find  the  Gaulish  women  exerting  themselves 

*  Amm.  Mar.  t  Polybius,  ii.  t  Bello  GalK 

§  Bello  Gall.  il.  H  Vit.  Agric.  IT  Plutarch  de  Bello  Cirabrico 


OF  THE  CELTIC  FEMALES. 


115 


most  strenuously  to  animate  the  soldiers  and  excite  them  to  the  combat. 
They  ran  about  with  dishevelled  hair,  and  other  appearances  calculated 
to  rouse  the  army  to  the  utmost  rage.*  When  the  Druids  were  attacked 
in  Anglesea,  their  sacred  asylum,  by  the  Romans,  the  women  did  the 
same.  The  illustrious  Queen  of  the  Iceni  is  an  instance  of  the  heroism 
of  British  females.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  of  the  ladies  of  Scotish 
chiefs  actually  fought,  but  many  of  them  have  on  various  occasions 
raised  their  followers,  and  led  them  to  the  field. 

The  Germans  placed  their  wives  and  children  in  the  immediate  vicini- 
ty of  the  field  of  battle,  who  before  an  engagement  set  up  loud  bowlings, 
which  were  answered  by  the  chantings  of  the  whole  army,  both  together 
making  an  astounding  noise.  The  troops  bemg  thus  under  the  notice  of 
their  dearest  relatives,  were  stimulated  to  the  most  obstinate  and  san- 
guinary resistance. 

It  was  highly  creditable  to  the  humanity  of  the  Gauls,  that  during  the 
continuance  of  a  battle  they  carried  their  slain  and  wounded  off  the 
field,  where  the  affectionate  females  were  at  hand  to  afford  relief  and 
assistance.  They  administered  refreshment,  dressed  the  wounds,  and 
even  sucked  the  bleeding  sores  of  their  fainting  relatives  .f 

The  great  respect  which  the  Celts  paid  to  their  women  was  due  to 
many  amiable  qualities,  and  the  estimation  in  which  military  acquire- 
ments were  held  by  these  people  gave  an  incredible  weight  to  the  author- 
ity of  a  heroine.  Veleda,  in  the  Batavian  war,  had  the  address  and 
energy  to  combat  and  to  govern  the  fiercest  nations  of  Germany;  and 
before  her,  Aurinia  and  several  others  had  arrived  at  a  similar  height  of 
power.  Such  courageous  and  dignified  females  were  believed  to  be  en- 
dowed with  supernatural  gifts,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Deity  they  gov- 
erned the  people.  The  influence  of  the  intrepid  Bondiuca  over  the 
British  tribes,  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  veneration  paid  to  these  exalted 
characters,  who  were  believed  to  be  the  interpreters  of  the  Divine  will. 

The  German  women  had  the  honor  of  turning  on  many  occasions  the 
doubtful  scale  of  victory;  and  "fainting  armies  have  more  than  once 
been  driven  back  upon  the  enemy,  by  the  generous  despair  of  the  women, 
who  dreaded  death  much  less  than  servitude.  The  sentiments  and  con- 
duct of  these  high  spirited  matrons  may  at  once  be  considered  as  a 
cause,  as  an  effect,  and  as  a  proof  of  the  general  character  of  the  na- 
tion." J  We  find  that  it  was  referred  to  the  Gallic  women,  by  soothsay- 
ing and  casting  lots,  to  determine  when  it  was  proper  to  fight. ^ 

It  was  the  peculiar  duty  of  the  Bards  to  animate  the  Celtic  warriors; 
for  which  purpose  they  always  attended  the  armies  in  considerable  num- 
bers, and  their  persons  were  held  sacred.  "They  were  not  only  res- 
pected in  peace,  but  also  in  war,  and  by  enemies  as  well  as  by  friends;" 
and  so  great  was  the  influence  of  this  order,  that  "they  would  often  step 
between  armies  prepared  to  engage,  their  swords  drawn,  and  spears 


*  Bello  Gal. 


t  Tacitus  de  mor.  Germ. 


t  Gibbon. 


§  Bello  Gal 


116  DUTIES  OF  THE  BARDS. 

levelled;"  their  interposition  having  the  immediate  effect  of  stopping  the 
impending  conflict,  and  allaying  the  fury  of  the  troops,  as  if  they  were 
"wild  beasts  tamed  by  some  charm."*  Amongst  the  Scotish  Gael,  the 
Druid,  placing  himself  on  an  eminence,  harangued  the  troops  who  stood 
around  him,  reminding  them  of  their  former  glories,  exhorting  them  to 
exertion  on  the  present  occasion,  &c.,  and  invoking  the  divine  blessing 
on  all.  At  the  conclusion,  the  army  gave  a  loud  shout,  and  felt  quite 
prepared  for  immediate  attack. 

The  respect  paid  to  the  Bards,  who  survived  the  fall  of  Druidism, 
continued,  until  recent  times,  among  the  Celtic  inhabitants  of  Britain. 
They  are  noticed  as  possessing  a  similar  influence  over  the  Irish  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  as  they  did  over  the  Gauls  2000  y^ars  ago."!"  Their 
military  duties  were  those  which  afterwards  devolved  on  the  heralds,  but 
their  religious  character  did  not  prevent  tdem  from  taking  a  more  active 
part  in  the  conflict.  The  Bards  were  certainly  armed,  as  we  find  from 
Talliesin,  who  was  himself  of  the  order.  Carril,  a  bard  of  Fingal's 
time,  appears  fighting;  and  Ullin,  another,  is  mentioned  as  carrying  the 
spear.  But  they  were  of  most  service  in  animating  the  people  by  the 
Prosnacha  cath,  or  incentive  to  battle,  which  was  either  hereditary  or 
extempore,  and  was  chanted  both  before  the  commencement  and  in  the 
heat  of  battle.  These  war  songs  were  composed  in  a  quick  measure, 
were  rapidly  repeated,  and  had  a  most  spirit-stirring  effect,  for  "the 
strife  was  kindled  by  the  songs  of  the  Bards."  The  Welsh  had  also  a 
war  song, J  called  Arymes  prydain;  and  several  are  found  in  the  works 
of  the  Bards.  That  of  Gaul  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  ancient  Celtic 
poetry  and  style  of  the  battle  song.  It  is  taken  from  the  copy  which  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Gallic,  of  Kincardine,  in  Boss,  communicated  to  the  Highland 
Society  from  memory.  It  may  be  found  in  the  4th  book  of  Fingal,  as 
translated  by  Macpherson;  but  the  present  copy  seems  to  be  preferable. 

A  mhacain  cheann,  "  Offspring  of  the  chiefs, 

Nan  cursan  strann,  Of  snorting  steeds,  high  bounding ! 

Ard  leumnach,  righ  n'a'n  sleagh  !  King  of  spears  ! 

Lamh  threin  'sguch  cas  Strong  arm  in  every  trial ; 

Croidhe  ard  gun  scd.  Ambitious  heart  without  dismay. 

Ceann  airm  nan  rinn  gear  girt,  Chief  of  the  host  of  severe  sharp  pointed  vp^eapons^ 

Gearr  sios  gu  has,  Cut  down  to  death, 

Gun  bharc  sheol  ban  So  that  no  white  sailed  bark 

Bhi  snamh  ma  dhubh  Innishtore.  May  float  round  dark  Innistore. 

Mar  tharnanech  bhavil  Like  the  destroying  thunder 

Do  bhuill,  a  laoich  I  Be  thy  stroke,  O  hero  ! 

Do  shuil  mar  chaoir  ad  cheann,  Thy  forward  eye  like  the  flaming  bolt, 

Mar  charaic  chruin,  As  the  firm  rock. 

Do  chroidhe  gun  roinn.  Unwavering  be  thy  heart. 

Mar  lassan  oidhch  do  lann.  As  the  flame  of  night  be  thy  sword. 

Cum  suar  do  scia  UpHft  thy  shield 

Is  crobhhui  nial  Of  the  hue  of  blood. 


*  Diodorus. 


t  Barnaby  Riche. 


t  Cambrian  Register. 


SIGNAL  FOR  BATTLE. 


117 


Mar  chih  bho  reul  a  bhaish, 
A  mhacain  cheann 
Nan  cursan  slrann, 
Sgrios  naimhde  sios  gu  lar. 


Asa       *  * 
Offspring  of  the  chiefs 
Of  snorting  steeds, 
Cut  down  the  foes  to  earth. 


Many  war  songs  of  later  times  are  extant.  The  Prosnacha  cath 
Garaich,  composed  by  Lachlan  Mac  Mhuireach,|  the  Bard  of  Donald 
of  the  Isles,  to  animate  his  troops  at  the  battle  of  Harlaw,  fought  in  1411, 
is  another  curious  production.  It  consists  of  eighteen  stanzas  of  unequal 
length,  corresponding  to  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  the  epithets  in 
each  begin  with  the  respective  letter.  The  following  specimen  may  be 
thought  interesting. 


A  chlanna  cuinn,  cuimhnichidh 
Cruas  an  am  na  h'iorghuil 
Gu  arinneach,  gu  arronntach, 
Gu  arach,  gu  allonnta' 

#       «       «       «       «  • 
Gu  gruamach,  gu  grinnail, 
Gu  grainail,  gu  gaisgail, 
Gu  gleusda,  gu  geinnail, 
Gu  gasda,  gu  guineach, 
Gu  galghaircach,  gu  griongalach, 
Gu  griosnamhach,  gu  gairlamhach, 
Gu  glansgathach,  gu  geurlannach,  &c. 


Race  of  Conn,  be  hardihood 
Remembered  in  the  day  of  strife, — 
Repeatedly  thrusting  confidently, 
Strongly,  nobly — 

*       «       It  « 
Sternly,  elegantly, 
Terribly,  heroically. 
Eagerly,  in  a  wedge-like  column 
Gallantly,  keenly. 
Causing  lamentations,  ardently, 
Inveterately,  with  sounding  blows, 
Lopping  off  limbs,  with  keen  swords. 


The  poem  is  more  remarkable  for  the  alliteration,  than  the  strength  or 
beauty  of  the  words.  This  species  of  recitation  was  retained  until  re- 
cently. Many  poems  of  this  kind  were  composed  in  1715  and  1745; 
but  the  spirit  of  Celtic  poetry  declined  among  the  Bards,  for  most  of  the 
modern  productions,  as  Macpherson  remarked,  consist  chiefly  in  groups 
of  epithets,  with  little  beauty  or  harmony. 

Besides  the  animation  of  the  war  song,  the  Highlanders  were  subject 
to  the  influence  of  something  like  that  feeling  which  leads  the  Eastern 
nations  to  "  run  a  muck."  When  the  party  was  observed  to  be  in  immi- 
nent danger,  and  nothing  but  a  most  desperate  eflTort  could  turn  the  fate 
of  the  day,  or  save  the  lives  of  their  friends  and  foster-brothers,  the 
Gael  was  seized  with  the  Miri-cath,  or  madness  of  battle,  which,  as  Al- 
exander Macdonald,  in  his  panegyric  on  the  clan,  observes,  required  no 
Prosnacha.  The  Celtoe,  when  warm  for  battle,  expressed  their  impa- 
tience by  striking  their  shields,  and  otherwise  rattling  their  arms.  The 
German  Kings  used,  from  ostentation,  to  be  surrounded  by  their  troops, 
who  made  a  great  noise  in  this  manner  with  their  arms.  It  was  the  usual 
practice  among  all  these  nations  to  express  their  desire  for  action;  but 
it  would  not  seem  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Celtge,  for  the  Romans  were  used 
likewise  to  strike  their  shields  with  their  spears,  to  indicate  their  readi- 
ness to  fight.    To  hold  up  a  shield  was  anciently  a  signal  of  battle. 

*  The  words  are  said  to  be  now  unintelligible ;  they  plainly  signify,  "  Like  the  hav- 
oc from  the  star  of  death."  t  Pronounced  Vuireach. 


118 


CLANSHIP. 


Herodotus  mentions  it,  as  formerly  the  practice  to  give  this  signal,  by 
a  torch-bearer,  who  was  sacred  to  Mars,  and  whose  person  was  inviola- 
ble. Proceeding  to  the  space  between  both  armies,  he  dropped  his 
torch  in  the  middle,  and  instantly  retired.  We  find  from  Ossian,  that 
"  rolling  a  stone  "  was  "  the  sign  of  war,"  by  which  must  be  understood, 
I  apprehend,  its  being  dashed  against  some  sonorous  body.  A  more 
usual  signal  to  commence  an  engagement  was,  by  the  raising  up  or  un- 
furling the  royal  standard.  Fingal's  standard,  from  its  beauty,  was  call- 
ed the  sun-bcam;  and  hence,  in  old  composition,  to  begin  a  battle  is 
expressed  by  the  "lifting  of  the  sun-beam."  Striking  the  shield  was 
another  signal  to  commence  an  engagement.  The  military  operations 
of  the  Celts,  like  their  domestic  affairs,  were  influenced  by  the  peculiar 
system  of  polity,  which  governed  the  whole  race,  and  which  so  long 
preserved  the  remains  of  this  aboriginal  people,  distinct  from  the  other 
nations  of  Europe.  This  state  of  society  has  been  styled  the  Patri- 
archal: it  is  more  usually  denominated  Clanship.  In  Scotland  it  existed 
eighty  years  ago,  in  as  great  strength  and  purity  as  it,  perhaps,  had  ever 
done  in  the  most  ancient  times.  In  this  country  the  affection  with  which 
the  people  cherished  their  primitive  institutions,  distinguished  the  High- 
land tribes  from  all  others  known  in  the  history  of  mankind. 

Clanship  was  the  junction  of  feudal  and  patriarchal  authority,  pass- 
ing from  chieftain  to  chieftain;  but  the  simplicity  of  this  government 
was  corrected  by  regular  division  of  landed  property,  by  many  salutary 
customs,  and  by  a  degree  of  steady  refinement  and  civilisation.  At  the 
period  when  the  Romans  became  personally  acquainted  with  this  coun- 
try, the  inhabitants  were  considerably  advanced  beyond  the  simple  pat- 
riarchal state,  that  only  exists  in  the  very  infancy  of  society,  before  fami- 
lies become  united  in  large  communities,  and  are  formed  into  tribes 
closely  allied  and  attached  to  each  other.  The  first  is  a  step  above  the 
savage  life;  it  is  a  still  farther  advance  in  civilisation  to  arrive  at  the  art 
of  domesticating  cattle,  and  society  will  long  exist  by  so  doing  before 
its  members  begin  to  cultivate  even  a  small  portion  of  the  earth.  These 
changes  naturally  succeed  each  other,  in  the  progress  of  all  people,  from 
the  rudeness  of  savage  life  to  the  social  state. 

In  the  infancy  of  society,  mankind  are  almost  solely  occupied  in  hunt- 
ing and  warfare.  The  first  pursuit  is  necessary  for  their  subsistence, 
the  second  is  unavoidable  among  savage  tribes,  for  the  members  of  an 
early  community  are  obliged  to  be  constantly  on  their  guard,  to  protect 
themselves  from  the  aggressions  of  their  neighbors.  The  small  associa- 
tions are  firmly  united  arid  linked  together,  and  the  bonds  of  friendship 
are  strengthened  by  time,  whilst  the  little  intercourse  that  takes  place 
with  other  people  preserves  that  attachment  which  the  members  cherish 
towards  each  other.  It  is  in  this  primitive  condition  of  mankind,  that 
the  peculiar  system  of  Clanship  originates,  which,  from  particular  cir- 
cumstances, becomes  variously  modified. 

An  early  society  is  obliged  to  be  always  in  a  posture  of  defence,  in 


ORIGIN  OF  CLANSHIP. 


119 


order  to  preserve  its  very  existence,  and  is  continually  engaged  in  mili- 
tary enterprises,  either  to  gratify  the  passions  of  enmity  and  resentment, 
to  avenge  former  wrongs,  or  to  indulge  in  a  natural  propensity  to  supply 
its  necessities  by  the  plunder  of  others.  This  state  of  existence  points 
out  the  advantage  of  the  members  putting  themselves  under  the  guid- 
ance of  some  individual,  who  is  considered  best  able  to  direct  their 
operations.  The  necessity  of  a  regulation,  by  which  the  proceedings  of 
a  body  shall  be  superintended  and  controlled  by  a  single  head,  seems  to 
be  acknowledged  in  all  countries,  and  naturally  arises  from  the  obedience 
that  a  family  yields  to  the  authority  of  a  father.  When  men  are  in  this 
primitive  state,  there  are  no  distinctions  in  rank,  and  the  only  recom- 
mendations arise  from  personal  qualifications.  Strength,  courage,  dex- 
terity in  managing  the  implements  of  war,  a  superiority  in  the  perform- 
ance of  athletic  amusements,  and  other  similar  accomplishments,  will 
point  out  an  object  for  choice;  and  when  a  person  is  selected  for  the 
important  station,  and  performs  its  duties  satisfactorily,  the  community 
becomes  attached  to  him.  His  achievements  are  boasted  of,  his  exploits 
are  magnified,  and,  from  a  natural  feeling,  the  honor  of  the  whole  body 
is  intimately  connected  with  him.  The  more  fortunate  he  is,  the  more 
do  his  followers  esteem  him,  and  the  more  solicitous  they  are  to  deserve 
his  good  opinion,  by  their  fidelity  and  emulation  to  distinguish  them- 
selves. The  chief,  accordingly,  acquires  more  weight  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  affairs,  and  he  is  too  fond  of  the  power  with  which  he  is 
invested,  to  commit  those  actions  which  would  lead  to  a  deprivation  of  it. 

When  the  art  of  war  becomes  more  refined,  military  skill  and  experi- 
ence are  preferred  to  mere  strength  and  agility,  in  the  election  of  chief, 
without  wholly  disregarding  those  latter  qualifications;  hence  the  respect 
that  is  paid  to  old  age,  from  the  wisdom  which  is  acquired  in  a  long  life. 
The  individual  who,  in  a  pastoral  state,  has  become  rich  in  numerous 
herds,  becomes  proportionally  powerful.  He  is  able  to  support  those 
who  have  nothing  themselves,  and  who  therefore  become  his  dependants, 
and  cheerfully  contribute  to  that  affluence  which  is  readily  bestowed  on 
his  friends.  He  is  treated  with  respect  and  submission  by  his  retainers 
and  less  fortunate  relations,  and  enjoys  a  pre-eminence  from  the  abili- 
ties, which  have  been  exerted  in  the  accumulation  and  management  of 
his  flocks. 

Personal  qualifications  cannot  always  be  continued  in  a  family,  but 
wealth  can  be  transmitted  through  generations;  and  the  influence  of 
ancestors,  instead  of  expiring  with  them,  becomes,  in  some  measure, 
added  to  that  of  the  successors.  This  possession  of  property  gives  rise 
to  hereditary  chieftainship,  and  therefore  the  leader  or  governor  of  a 
tribe  is  often  very  young. 

When  agriculture  begins  to  be  practised,  there  is  a  new  source  of 
influence,  extremely  favorable  towards  strengthening  the  authority  of  a 
chief  or  head  of  a  village.  The  ground  is  at  first  cultivated  in  common, 
and  during  this  period  the  chief  has  a  power  of  superintending  the 


120 


ORIGIN  OF  CLANSHIP. 


labor,  and  apportioning  the  produce  of  the  fields.  When  the  land  is  af- 
terwards divided  into  certain  properties,  he  is  by  common  consent  allow- 
ed an  extent  of  territory  for  himself,  equal  to  the  rank  he  is  obliged  to 
support,  and  is  empowered  to  assign  to  others  suitable  allotments:  he 
thus  becomes  sole  proprietor  of  the  soil,  and  acquires  a  complete  au- 
thority over  the  members  of  his  little  community.  His  military  duties 
are  also  increased,  as  he  is  more  interested  in  the  defence  of  the  tribe, 
which  now  requires  additional  exertion.  The  members  obey  him  with 
less  hesitation;  they  revere  his  command,  and  become  so  strongly  at- 
tached to  his  person,  that  they  are  ready  to  support  him  on  all  occa- 
sions. To  fail  in  this  duty,  would  draw  on  them  his  resentment;  theii 
faithful  service  procures  his  kindness  and  protection.  ~The  chief  nat- 
urally becomes  their  legislator.  At  first  he  reconciles  their  differences 
by  persuasion,  to  which  a  respect  for  his  experience  and  judgment  will 
induce  the  parties  to  attend,  but  he  soon  acquires  power  to  enforce  his 
decisions. 

The  authority  of  a  chief  is  very  limited  in  a  nation  which  has  not 
advanced  far  in  the  pastoral  state,  but  it  is  almost  unlimited  when  it  has 
become  rich  in  flocks  and  agriculture,  and  the  influence  of  subordinate 
heads  of  families  is  always  proportioned  to  the  extent  of  their  posses- 
sions, and  indicated  by  the  number  of  their  retainers. 

The  Gallic  chief  had  the  direction  of  all  the  warlike  affairs,  and  the 
great  mark  of  nobility  consisted  in  the  number  of  vassals  by  which  he 
was  attended,  who  were  always  proportionate  to  his  estate  and  quality.* 

After  the  formation  of  a  settled  community,  the  military  and  other 
services  of  the  vassals,  rendered  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  portion  of 
land  originally  assigned  for  their  subsistence,  constitutes  the  bond  of 
society. 

The  improvement  in  agriculture,  and  consequent  increase  of  popula- 
tion, occasions  the  formation  of  separate  villages,  composed  of  colonies 
branching  from  the  original  tribe.  These  are  situated  at  considerable 
distances  from  each  other,  and  in  time  become  distinct,  and  in  some 
degree  independent,  at  least  in  their  internal  government;  but  they  re- 
semble each  other  in  manners  and  institutions,  and  continue  to  acknow- 
ledge their  common  descent.  The  enlargement  of  their  possessions  sub- 
jects them  to  more  frequent  attack  and  molestation  from  their  neigh- 
bors, and  their  mutual  interest  induces  them  to  associate  for  their  better 
security.  This  will  be  sometimes  the  case  with  contiguous  tribes  of 
diflTerent  origin,  and  is  likely  to  occur  in  the  coalition  of  a  weak  clan 
with  one  more  powerful.  Such  associations  are  not  unknown  to  the 
shepherd  state,  but  are  more  frequently  formed  in  agricultural  commu- 
nities. In  this  manner  society  becomes  enlarged  and  cemented  by  in- 
termarriages and  mutual  hospitalities.  From  this  cause,  also,  will  lesser 
tribes  merge  in  those  larger  associations,  under  whose  protection  they 
have  placed  themselves.      They  will  be  regarded  as  an  inferior  division 


*  Bello  Gall.  vi.  7. 


SCOTLAND  ADAPTED  FOR  IT. 


121 


only,  their  particular  name  will  cease  to  be  mentioned  separate  y,  and 
in  time  will  be  only  preserved  among  themselves. 

In  exchange  for  this  sacrifice  they  will  share  in  the  glories  acquired 
by  the  people  to  whom  they  have  ceded  their  independence.  They  will 
still  retain  their  own  chieftain,  who  will  continue  to  possess  the  power 
of  governing  his  immediate  dependants,  and  only  submit  at  first  to  his 
superior  in  general  affairs.  In  military  transactions  he  will  have  the 
immediate  command  of  his  own  troops,  and  be  only  subject  to  the  chief, 
who  is  supreme  leader. 

This  arrangement,  or  mode  of  conducting  military  operations,  is  a 
striking  part  of  the  Celtic  system  of  polity,  which  is  thus  seen  to  derive 
its  origin  from  the  most  early  associations,  that  are  formed  by  mankind. 

In  this  view  of  the  system  I  am  obliged  to  differ  in  opinion  from  Sir 
David  Stewart,  who  thinks,  that  on  the  transfer  of  the  government  from 
the  Highlands,  and  consequent  impoverishment  of  the  country,  the  in- 
stitution of  Clans  arose.*  Scotland  is  naturally  well  adapted  for  the 
preservation  of  the  inhabitants  in  a  state  of  distinct  and  independent 
clanship.  Divided  into  valleys,  surrounded  by  lofty,  and  in  many  cases 
impassable  mountains,  the  various  tribes  were  separated  by  permanent 
and  well  known  boundaries. 

Hills  are  better  divisions  than  rivers,  which  are  generally  fordable, 
and  in  a  mountainous  country,  the  bed  of  a  stream  is  sometimes  filled  by 
the  most  impetuous  torrent,  and  at  other  times  becomes  only  the  channel 
of  a  rippling  brook;  but  the  heights  around  a  valley,  and  the  extended 
ridges  embracing  a  larger  tract,  divided  Celtic  Scotland  into  Countries, 
before  it  was  laid  out  in  parishes  or  in  shires.  From  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  arose  the  first;  the  last  were  introduced  with  other  Saxon 
innovations,  in  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century.  These  alterations 
were  deemed  suiiicient.  Tythings,  hundreds,  and  other  institutions, 
were  never  established  in  Scotland. "f  To  the  inhabitants  of  a  valley,  all 
within  the  visible  horizon  was  a  country.  The  great  contention  was 
always  for  *'the  sky  of  the  hill, "J  and  long  as  it  is  since  this  Celtic 
division  has  been  politically  unknown,  the  districts  inhabited  by  certain 
clans  are  still  called  their  Countries. 

This  separation  of  territory  was,  however,  too  indefinite.  Without 
some  established  marks,  the  exact  extent  of  different  properties  could 
not  be  well  determined;  and  in  hunting  and  on  other  occasions,  infringe- 
ments would  occur,  which  nothing  but  a  war  could  requite. 

Stones,  like  the  Roman  Termini,  marked  the  boundaries  of  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Germans  and  Burgundians,  in  the  time  of  Julian,^  and  it 
may  be  safely  presumed  that  many  of  the  rude  obelisks  to  be  found  all 
over  Scotland  were  raised  for  this  purpose.  In  the  Isles  and  other  parts 
of  Scotland,  burnt  ashes,  or  chaff,  were  laid  under  stones  for  the  better  . 

*  Sketches  of  the  Highlanders. 

t  Caled.    It  was  not  until  1584  that  Ulster  was  laid  out  in  shires. 
t  Skene  Keith.  §  Ammian  Mar. 

16 


122 


CLANSHIP,  AN  EQUITABLE  SYSTEM. 


preservation  of  these  marks;  and  a  practice,  which  is  well  known  at  the 
perambulation  of  English  parishes,  was  in  use  as  a  farther  security,  that 
the  march  should  not  be  afterwards  mistaken:  boys  were  taken  to  the 
spot  and  received  so  sound  a  flogging,  that  it  was  by  no  means  likely 
they  should,  while  they  lived,  forget  the  place  of  execution.* 

Trenches,  or  earthen  mounds,  were  also  formed  as  boundaries,  and 
were  sometimes  carried  to  a  considerable  length.  They  are  common 
in  England,  particularly  in  Wiltshire,  where  the  Wansdike,  running 
through  Somersetshire  to  the  Severn,  the  most  wonderful  remain  of 
British  earthwork,  is  still  distinctly  seen.  In  Scotland,  also,  particu- 
larly in  the  Southern  counties,  are  still  to  be  traced  the  vestiges  of  many 
extensive  boundary  lines,  for  which  the  unsettled  state  of  these  provinces 
in  early  ages  may  account.  Here  also  were  constructed  those  walls 
which  the  Romans,  evidently  in  imitation  of  the  Celtic  mode  of  castra- 
metation,  intended  as  the  boundaries  of  their  overgrown  empire. 

But,  leaving  the  theory,  let  us  more  particularly  trace  the  progress 
of  Clanship,  and  pursuing  its  history,  observe  its  effects  among  those 
nations  ^here  it  was  most  tenaciously  adhered  to.  The  whole  institu- 
tions of  the  CelttB  were  affected  by  this  singular  system.  All  the  Gauls 
were  regulated  by  this  mode  of  government,  and  the  Romans  found  it  in 
full  force  among  the  Britons,  whose  descendants  so  long  retained  their 
ancient  policy. 

This  curious  social  compact  comprised  the  patriarchal  with  the  feudal 
authority.  Its  grand  characteristic  was  obedience  to  the  chief  by  the 
whole  clan,  with  the  respect  that  the  members  of  a  family  pay  to  a  fath- 
er, like  whom  the  chief  exerted  his  authority  over  all  his  followers.  The 
claims  of  consanguinity  were  spread  over  the  whole  community,  and  all 
were  distinguished  by  a  common  name. 

The  chief,  as  head  of  the  tribe,  being  in  a  certain  sense,  proprietor  oi 
the  whole  territory,  he  managed  it  for  the  public  good,  and  endeavor- 
ed to  divide  the  lands  so  as  to  accommodate  all  his  followers.  In  the 
later  periods  of  their  history  the  chiefs  did  hold  great  portions,  if  not,  in 
some  cases,  all  the  land  as  their  own,  which  enabled  them  to  increase 
their  power,  and  provide  for  their  immediate  relations  by  grants,  some- 
times in  wadset,  sometimes  in  perpetuity,  and  sometimes  for  a  limited 
period. 

Amongst  the  ancient  Celtag,  however,  the  prince  or  king  had  nothing 
actually  his  own;  but  every  thing  belonging  to  his  followers  were  freely  at 
his  service,  ''of  their  own  accord  they  gave  their  prince  so  many  cattle, 
or  a  certain  portion  of  grain."  It  seems  probable  that  the  Celtic  chief 
held  the  public  lands  in  trust  for  his  people,  and  was,  on  his  succession, 
invested  with  those  possessions  which  he  afterwards  apportioned  among 
his  retainers.  Those  only,  we  are  told  by  Caesar,  had  land,  "magis- 
trates and  princes,  and  they  give  to  their  followers  as  much  as  they 
think  proper,  removing  them  at  the  year's  end."    The  king  of  the  He- 


*  Martin. 


CLANSHIP  A  PATRIARCHAL  GOVERNMENT. 


123 


budie,  we  find,  was  not  allowed  to  possess  any  thing  of  his  own,  lest 
avarice  should  divert  him  from  truth  and  justice.*  In  Ireland,  the  tenants 
gave  common  spendings  for  rent,  from  which  came  the  expression  spend 
me  and  defend  me." 

Perhaps  when  Malcolm,  in  909,  resigned  all  his  lands  to  his  nobles, 
reserving  nothing  to  himself  but  the  royal  dignity  and  moot  hill  of  Scone, 
a  circumstance  that  has  excited  much  astonishment,  he  did  no  more  than 
acknowledse,  according  to  the  Celtic  system,  that  it  was  from  his  peo- 
ple he  received  his  possessions. 

The  following  are  the  words  of  Dr.  Johnson,  when  speaking  of  Clan- 
ship among:  the  Scots  Highlanders.  "  The  Laird  is  the  original  owner 
of  the  land,  whose  natural  power  must  be  very  great  where  no  man  lives 
but  by  agriculture,  and  where  the  produce  of  the  land  is  not  conveyed 
through  the  labyrinths  of  traffic,  but  passes  directly  from  the  hand  that 
gathers  to  the  mouth  that  eats  it.  The  Laird  has  all  those  in  his  power 
that  live  on  his  farms.  This  inherent  power  was  yet  strengthened  by 
the  kindness  of  consanguinity  and  the  reverence  of  patriarchal  authority. 
The  Laird  was  the  father  of  the  clan,  and  his  tenants  commonly  bore  his 
name;  and  to  these  principles  of  original  command  was  added,  for  many 
ages,  an  exclusive  right  of  legal  jurisdiction.  This  multifarious  and 
extensive  obligation  operated  with  a  force  scarcely  credible:  every  duty, 
moral  or  political,  was  absorbed  in  affection  and  adherence  to  the  chief. 
Not  many  years  have  passed  since  the  clans  knew  no  law  but  the  Laird's 
will;  he  told  them  to  whom  they  should  be  friends  or  enemies;  what 
kings  they  should  obey,  and  what  religion  they  should  profess." 

Next  to  the  love  of  the  chief  was  that  of  the  particular  branch  whence 
they  sprang;  and  in  a  third  degree  to  those  of  the  whole  clan.  The 
Highlanders  also  owed  good  will  to  such  clans  as  were  their  friends,  and 
they  adhered  to  one  another  in  opposition  to  the  Lowlanders. 

The  simple  principle  of  Clanship  may  be  reduced  to  the  patriarchal 
authority  of  a  father  over  his  family,  and  the  affectionate  obedience  which 
a  clansman  paid  to  his  chief  as  the  father  of  the  tribe.  Nothing  could 
cancel  the  paramount  duty  of  allegiance.  The  members  of  one  clan 
might  reside  on  the  lands  of  another  proprietor,  but  their  service  was 
due  to  their  lawful  chief  only,  whom  they  were  bound  to  follow.  If  any 
individual  had  the  temerity  to  disobey  the  commands  of  his  superior,  it 
may  be  presumed  his  situation  became  not  very  enviable.  If  he  per- 
sisted in  his  opposition,  he  was  expelled  the  clan,  for  no  individual  could 
remain  in  the  territory  after  setting  himself  above  his  chief;  but  few 
instances  of  such  conduct  ever  occurred. 

The  law  of  Kincogish,  by  which  a  chief  was  answerable  for  every  mem- 
ber of  his  clan,  was  a  truly  Celtic  institution.  It  existed  in  South  Britain 
in  the  time  of  Alfred,  and  was  found  so  useful,  that  it  was  embodied  in  the 
statutes  of  both  Ireland  and  Scotland. 


*  SolinuSj  c.  22. 


124 


CLANSHIP, 


The  whole  clan,  however  numerous,  were  supposed  to  be  related  to 
each  other;  and  although  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  so  large  a  family, 
yet,  as  the  members  continued  to  intermarry,  they  were  actually  in  a 
certain  degree  related,  not  excepting  the  chief  himself,  whose  blood  each 
individual  believed,  with  feelings  of  pride,  circled  in  his  own  heart. 
The  superior  orders  in  the  tribe,  the  chieftains  and  Duine-uasals  more 
Ifimiliarly  known  in  latter  times  as  the  Tacksmen  or  Goodmen,  were  ac- 
knowledged relations  of  the  Laird,  and  held  portions  of  land  suitable  to 
their  consequence.  These  again  had  a  circle  of  relations,  who  consid- 
ered them  as  tlieir  immediate  leaders,  and  who,  in  battle,  were  placed 
under  their  immediate  command.  Over  them,  in  peace,  these  chieftains 
exercised  a  certain  authority,  but  were  themselves  dependant  on  the 
chief,  to  whose  service  all  the  members  of  the  clan  were  submissively 
devoted. 

As  the  Duine-uasals  received  their  lands  from  the  bounty  of  the  chief, 
for  the  purpose  of  supporting  their  station  in  the  tribe,  so  these  lands 
were  occasionally  resumed  or  reduced  to  provide  for  those  who  were 
more  immediately  related  to  the  Laird;  hence  many  of  this  class  neces- 
sarily sank  into  that  of  commoners.  This  transition  strengthened  the 
feeling  which  was  possessed  by  the  very  lowest  of  the  community,  that 
they  were  related  to  the  chief,  from  whom  they  never  forgot  they  ori- 
ginally sprang.  "There  is  no  part  of  France,"  says  Marchargy, 
"  in  which  the  spirit  of  family  connexion  is  stronger  than  in  Brittany: 
relationship  is  carried  to  the  twelfth  degree,  and  passes  from  genera- 
tion to  generation."*  About  this  simple  plan  of  government  much 
has  been  written.  It  is  evident  that  it  must  have  produced  features 
very  peculiar  and  very  different  from  those  to  be  found  among  any  other 
people. 

The  practice  of  fosterage,  by  which  children  were  mutually  exchang- 
ed and  brought  up,  was  a  curious  feature  in  the  system,  and  a  most 
powerful  cement  to  clanship. 

The  son  of  the  chief  was  given  to  be  reared  by  some  inferior  member 
of  society,  with  whom  he  lived  during  the  years  of  pupilarity.  The  ef- 
fect of  this  custom  appears  to  have  been  astonishing.  It  often  prevented 
feuds,  and  it  seems  calculated  sometimes  to  produce  them.  The  attach- 
ment of  foster-brothers  was  strong  and  indissoluble.  The  Highlanders 
say,  that  "  affectionate  to  a  man  is  a  friend,  but  a  foster-brother  is  as 
the  life  blood  of  his  heart."  No  love  in  the  world,  says  Camden,  is 
comparable  by  many  degrees  to  it.  |  That  of  foster  parents  was  equally 
strong,  and  many  traditional  anecdotes  are  related  of  their  mutual  regard. 
Spenser  relates  that  he  sav/  an  old  woman  who  had  been  foster-mother 
to  Murrough  O'Brien,  at  his  execution  suck  the  blood  from  his  head, 
and  bathe  her  face  and  breast  with  it,  saying  iiP\^s  too  precious  to  fall  to 
the  earth. 

*  Hist,  of  Brittany,  Lit.  Gaz.  1825,  No.  450. 

t  Coalt  is  a  foster-brother  ;  Dalta,  a  foster-son  ;  Oid,  a  foster-father 


STRENGTHENED  BY  FOSTERAGE. 


125 


It  appears  that  fifteen  were  usually  fostered  by  a  chief,*  but  Fingal 
had  sixteen  foster-brothers.'f 

It  was  accounted  a  high  honor  to  obtain  the  fosterage  of  a  superior. 
"  Five  hundred  kyne  and  better,"  were  sometimes  given  by  the  Irish, 
to  procure  the  nursing  of  a  great  man's  child,  j  The  trust  was  so  far 
from  being  deemed  a  service,  that  it  was  reckoned  a  very  high  honor, 
and  hot  contentions  arose  among  the  vassals  for  the  preference.  The 
foster  family  were  particularly  respected  by  the  chief,  and  raised  to 
much  consideration  among  their  neighbors. 

The  foster-brothers  were  generally  promoted  to  some  office  near  the 
person  of  the  chief  The  family,  at  all  events,  received  some  adequate 
reward,  and  the  terms  were  regularly  settled. §  These  were  not  the 
same  in  all  places.  "  In  Mull,  the  father  sends  with  his  child  a  certain 
number  of  cows,  to  which  the  same  number  is  added  by  the  fosterer  ; 
the  father  appropriating  a  proportionate  extent  of  country,  without  rent, 
for  their  pasturage.  If  every  cow  bring  a  calf,  half  belongs  to  the  fos- 
terer and  half  to  the  child;  but  if  there  be  only  one  calf  between  two 
cows,  it  is  the  child's;  and  when  the  child  returns  to  the  parents,  it  is 
accompanied  by  all  the  cows  given  both  by  the  father  and  by  the  foster- 
er, with  half  of  the  increase  of  the  stock  by  propagation.  These  beasts 
are  considered  as  a  portion,  and  called  macaladh  cattle,  of  which  the 
father  has  the  produce,  but  is  supposed  not  to  have  the  full  property, 
but  to  owe  the  same  number  to  the  child,  as  a  portion  to  the  daughter, 
or  a  stock  for  the  son."  || 

Among  a  people  so  knit  together  by  consanguinity,  it  naturally  follow- 
ed that  an  injury  done  to  an  individual  was  resented  by  the  whole  clan. 
Tacitus  observes  of  the  Germans,  that  they  adopted  all  the  enmities  as 
well  as  friendships  of  their  particular  houses.  "  Men  in  a  small  district 
necessarily  mingle  blood  by  intermarriage,  and  combine  at  last  into  one 
family.  Then  begins  that  union  of  affections  and  co-operation  of  endeav- 
ors that  constitute  a  clan.  "IT  The  Celtic  princes  were  attached  to  their 
followers  by  relationship  as  well  as  policy.  They  were  mutually  bound 
by  the  closest  ties,  and  their  ambition  was  to  emulate  each  other  in  acts 
of  heroism.  A  numerous  retinue  was  the  greatest  pride  of  the  Celtic 
warriors:  those  of  Italy  strove  which  should  purchase  most  friends,  for 
they  highly  esteemed  a  man  that  was  honored  by  many.**  The  Scyths 
also  instilled  into  their  children  to  make  numerous  friends. H  It  was  the 
delight  of  both  Gauls  and  Germans  to  be  surrounded  by  numerous  bodies 
of  chosen  men,  whose  sense  of  honor  was  so  strong,  that  they  could  not 
abandon  their  master,  even  to  save  their  own  lives,  without  incurring 
universal  contempt. JJ  ^ 

*  High.  Soc.  Rep.  on  Ossia.^  t  Ibid.  t  Campion. 

§  A  deed  of  fosterage,  b^ween  Sir  Norman  Mac  Leod  and  John  Mac  Kenzie,  dated 
1645,  and  written  in  Gaelic,  still  exists 

II  Johnson's  Tour  to  the  Hebrides.  TI  Johnson.  **  Polybius. 

tt  Les  diff.  moeurs  des  an.  peuples,  1670.  tt  Bello  Gall.  vii.  38. 


126 


THE  ATTENDANTS  OF  A  CHIEF. 


Those  sworn  bodies  of  friends  which  the  Gauls  called  Soldurii,*  lived 
on  a  community  of  goods,  shared  in  all  the  misfortunes  as  well  as  suc- 
cesses of  their  commanders;  and  Caesar  declares  that  there  was  no  in- 
stance on  record  of  any  who  ever  refused  to  sacrifice  his  life  with  tho' ve 
who  engaged  him. I  Amongst  the  Germans,  he  informs  us,  that  if  those 
who  had  agreed  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  a  leader,  should  break  the 
engagement,  they  were  branded  with  infamy,  which  could  not  by  any 
means  be  ever  afterwards  removed. 

The  enthusiastic  Mr.  Roderick  Mackenzie,  who  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  king's  troops  after  the  defeat  of  the  rebels  at  Culloden,  is  a  noble 
example  of  devoted  attachment.  Bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to 
Prince  Charles,  and  finding  himself  suddenly  surprised,  "^yet  disdaining 
flight  or  submission,  lest,  in  the  homely  phrase  of  Dugald  Graeme, 

"  That,  like  a  thief,  he  should  be  hanged, 
He  chose  to  die  with  sword  in  hand  t 

and  attacking  the  party,  he  received  his  mortal  wound,  exclaiming,  as 
he  fell,  "  You  have  slain  your  prince!  "  To  this  generous  sacrifice  the 
escape  of  Charles  is  to  be  chiefly  attributed;  for  the  head  of  Mackenzie 
was  cut  ofl^,  and  as  it  was  believed  to  be  that  of  the  Chevalier,  for  which 
a  reward  of  £30,000  was  offered,  the  parties  who  were  scouring  the 
country  became  less  vigilant. 

At  Glenshiels,  in  1719,  Munro  of  Culcairn  was  wounded  in  the  thigh, 
and  the  rebels  continued  to  fire  on  him  when  down.  Finding  their  de- 
termination to  kill  him,  he  desired  his  servant  to  get  out  of  the  way,  and 
return  home,  to  inform  his  father  that  he  had  not  misbehaved.  The 
faithful  Highlander  burst  into  tears,  and,  refusing  to  leave  his  master, 
threw  himself  down,  and  covering  the  body  of  his  chief  with  his  own,  re- 
ceived several  wounds,  and,  in  all  probability,  both  lives  would  have 
been  lost,  if  one  of  the  clan,  who  commanded  a  party,  had  not  seen 
their  perilous  situation.  He  swore  on  his  dirk  he  would  dislodge  the 
enemy,  and  by  a  desperate  charge  in  the  spirit  of  Miri-cath,  he  did  so.  ^ 

The  Luchdtachk  of  the  Highlanders  was  a  body  of  young  men,  select- 
ed from  the  best  families  in  the  clan,  who  were  skilfully  trained  to  the 
use  of  the  sword  and  targe,  archery,  v/restling,  swimming,  leaping,  and 
all  military  and  athletic  exercises;  and  their  duty  was  to  attend  the  chief 
wherever  he  went.  The  regular  establishment  consisted  of  these  per- 
sons, who  always  accompanied  him  when  he  went  abroad: 

The  Gille-coise,  or  Hanchman,  who  closely  attended  the  person  of 
his  chief,  and  stood  behind  him  at  table. 

The  Bladair,  or  spokesman. 

The  Bard. 

The  Piobaire,  or  piper.  ♦ 

*  Sold,  germ,  stipendium, — the  evident  origin  of  soldier. 

*  Bello,  Gall.  iii.  23. 

t  Metrical  History  of  the  Rebellion.  This  anecdote  is  related  in  the  Mem.  of  the 
Chev.  Johnstone.  §  Birt,  ii.  14.  who  had  it  of  Clucairn. 


RULES  OF  PRECEDENCE. 


127 


The  Gille-piobaire,  the  piper's  servant,  who  carried  his  instrument. 
The  Gille-more,  who  carried  the  chief's  broadsword. 
The  Gille-casfluich,  who  carried  him,  when  on  foot,  over  the  rivers. 
The  Gille-comhstraithainn,  who  led  his  horse  in  rough  and  dangerous 
paths. 

The  Gille-trusarneis,  or  baggage  man. 

The  Gille-ruithe,  or  running  footman,  was  also  an  occasional  attend- 
ant. 

Besides  these,  he  was  generally  accompanied  by  several  gentlemen 
who  were  near  relations;  and  a  number  of  the  commoners  followed  him 
and  partook  of  the  cheer  which  was  always  provided  by  the  person  to 
whom  a  visit  was  paid.  These  large  followings,  or  Tails,  occasioned  an 
act  of  council  to  be  passed,  prohibiting  the  Northern  Lairds  from  appear- 
ing at  Edinburgh  with  so  formidable  and  inconvenient  a  retinue.  The 
tails  of  the  Highland  chiefs  were,  however,  sufficiently  imposing  on  occa- 
sion of  his  Majesty's  late  visit  to  Dunedin.* 

In  the  laws  of  Hwyel  dha,  we  find  there  were  fourteen  men  in  the 
palace.  The  heir  apparent,  the  priest,  the  bard  of  presidency,  the  do- 
mestic bard,  the  physician,  the  judge,  the  master  of  the  household,  the 
master  of  the  hawks,  the  master  of  the  horse,  the  chief  huntsman,  the 
smith  of  the  court,  the  torchbearer,  the  crier,  and  the  foot  holder.  All 
these  sat  at  table  according  to  certain  rules  of  precedence  that  will  be 
detailed  in  another  part  of  the  work. 

The  order  observed  in  the  armies  of  the  Highlanders,  before  the  abo- 
lition of  their  heritable  independence,  was  this:  every  regiment  or  clan 
was  commanded  by  the  chief,  if  of  sufficient  age,  who  was  consequently 
the  colonel.  The  eldest  cadet  was  lieut. -colonel,  and  the  next  was 
major.  Some  clans,  in  1745,  had  the  youngest  cadet,  lieut. -colonel; 
but  this  was  unusual,  and  held  to  be  an  innovation  on  the  established 
principle.  Each  company  had  two  captains,  two  lieutenants,  and  two 
ensigns,  and  the  front  ranks  were  composed  of  gentlemen  who  were  all 
provided  with  targets,  and  were  otherwise  better  armed  than  the  rear. 
In  the  day  of  battle,  each  company  furnished  two  of  their  best  men  as  a 
guard  to  the  chief,  and  in  their  choice,  consanguinity  was  always  con- 
sidered. The  chief  was  posted  in  the  centre  of  the  column,  beside  the 
colors,  and  he  stood  between  two  brothers,  cousins-german,  or  other 
relations.  The  common  men  were  also  disposed  with  regard  to  their 
relatives,  the  father,  the  son,  and  the  brother  standing  beside  each  other. 
The  effect  which  this  "  order  of  nature"  |  must  have  had  in  stimulating 
the  combatants  to  deeds  of  heroism,  can  be  easily  perceived.  It  did  not 
escape  the  notice  of  the  intelligent  Tacitus.  Alluding  to  the  practice 
among  the  Celtic  tribes  of  the  Continent,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
British  Isles,  who  always  fought  in  parties,  or  by  clans,  under  the  com 
mand  of  their  immediate  chiefs,  he  says,  that  this  disunion,  preventing 


*  The  Gaelic  name  of  Edinburgh. 

t  Home's  Hist,  of  the  Rebellion,  1745,  &c. 


128 


EXCELLENCE  OF  CLANSHIP. 


any  general  confederacy,  was  highly  favorahle  to  the  Romans,  who 
were  thereby  enabled  to  subdue  "  a  warlike  people,  independent,  fierce, 
and  obstinate."*  We,  however,  find  that  it  did  not  always  prevent  a 
general  coalition,  as  was  so  strikingly  evinced  on  the  invasion  of  Gaul, 
and  on  the  advance  of  Agricola  into  the  regions  of  Caledonia,  Caesar, 
who  was  surely  a  competent  judge  in  this  matter,  thought  his  troops 
fought  to  much  disadvantage  against  these  parties,  who  stood  with  firm- 
ness, and  were  constantly  relieved  by  fresh  men.  Tacitus  himself,  in 
his  Annals,  expresses  his  decided  approbation  of  this  mode  of  drawing 
up  an  army;  and  also  says,  "what  proves  the  chief  incentive  to  their 
valor,  is,  that  the  battalia  are  not  formed  by  a  fortuitous  collection  of 
men,  but  by  the  conjunction  of  whole  families  and  tribes- of  relations."! 
Caesar  observes,  that  this  Clannish  system  was  introduced  among  the 
Gauls  in  ancient  times,  so  that  the  most  obscure  person  should  not  be 
oppressed  by  the  rich;  for  each  leader  was  obliged  to  protect  his  follow- 
ers, else  he  would  soon  be  stripped  of  his  authority.!  It  is  apparent^ 
from  the  constitution  of  Celtic  society,  that  a  chief  could  never  become 
despotic.    The  government  was  radically  democratic. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  divisions  of  tribes  and  nations  were 
rather  an  obstacle  than  assistance  in  the  conquest  of  GauL  for  the 
reverses  of  one  tribe  had  no  effect  on  the  state  of  another.^  When 
Bondiuca  had  been  defeated  with  the  loss  of  80,000  of  her  troops,  the 
Britons  were  found  still  in  arms.||  Although  the  Nervii  lost  60,000  in 
one  battle,  and  on  another  occasion  53,000  other  Gauls  were  sold  for 
slaves,  these  disasters  had  not  any  visible  efl'ect  on  the  general  proceed- 
ings. 

Their  mode  of  fighting  was  extremely  well  adapted  to  the  particular 
state  of  those  people.  They  possessed  a  large  extent  of  territory,  and 
the  loss  of  a  general  battle  would  have  been  peculiarly  unfortunate;  the 
population  being  so  widely  spread,  an  army,  when  dispersed,  could  not 
have  been  easily  brought  again  into  the  field,  except  by  the  subdivision 
of  authority;  and  before  the  forces  could  have  been  collected,  the  enemy 
would  have  completely  overran  the  country.  The  influence  of  the 
chiefs  over  their  respective  dependants  enabled  them  to  execute  plans 
with  a  celerity  unknown  under  other  systems;  and  the  various  opera- 
tions being  distributed  among  so  many,  the  whole  army  was  organized 
with  great  facility.  The  immense  hosts  that  were  embodied  could  not 
have  been  raised  among  a  semi-barbarous  and  roving  people  but  through 
the  strong  influence  of  the  chiefs,  who  were  perfectly  free  and  indepen- 
dent in  the  regulation  of  their  own  tribes. 

It  is  evident  that  each  clan  being  so  constituted,  and  there  being  no 
more  general  connexion  than  a  common  language  and  similar  customs, 
there  could  never  arise  any  power  able  to  raise  itself  to  a  great  superi- 
ority over  the  others.    One  tribe  rmght  predominate  for  a  time;  but  the 


*  Vita  Agric.  xii  t  De  mor.  Germ. 

§  Edmond's  Remarks  on  Caesar's  Commentaries. 


t  Bello  Gall.  vi.  c.  7. 
II  Tac.  Annals,  xiv. 


DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT  OF  CLANSHIP. 


129 


subjected  people  could  not  forget  their  allegiance  to  their  natural  chief, 
or  feel  a  cordial  attachment  to  their  new  lord.  This  state  of  things 
would  be,  besides,  too  hostile  to  the  spirit  of  clanship  to  exist  long;  and 
we  therefore  find,  that  whatever  successes  one  nation  might  obtain  over 
others,  the  balance  of  power  was,  on  the  whole,  preserved  among  the 
Gauls,  and  no  one  or  more  of  the  tribes  were  ever  able  to  erect  any 
thing  like  a  powerful  kingdom.  They  are  governed,  says  Diodorus,  by 
kings  and  princes,  who,  for  the  most  part,  are  at  peace  with  each  other. 
In  Britain,  Dio  informs  us,  the  people,  for  the  most  part,  had  the  gov- 
ernment.   Their  constitutions  were  certainly  democratic. 

It  was  not,  indeed,  unlikely  that  small  tribes  should  pay  deference  to 
those  who  were  more  powerful.  The  advantage  of  protection,  and  the 
honor  of  a  noble  alliance  were  powerful  inducements  to  allow  a  slight 
interference  in  their  internal  affairs,  which  was  not  entirely  incompatible 
with  Celtic  policy;  but  the  individual  rights  of  a  chief  could  not  be 
relinquished,  without  the  consent  of  the  whole  tribe.  However,  from 
motives  of  prudence,  or  from  necessity,  a  chieftain  might  be  induced  to 
humble  himself  to  his  more  powerful  neighbor,  they  were  both  equal  in 
dignity. 

Clanship  was  admirably  adapted  to  preserve  the  national  liberty  of 
the  Celts,  and  it  was  no  dishonor  to  their  arms  that  they  ultimately  were 
subdued  by  Roman  valor.  The  various  and  unconnected  tribes  of  Gaul 
could  not  have  been  well  governed  by  a  single  monarch,  and  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  Highlanders  of  Scotland  could  have  retained  their 
independence  so  long,  had  they  been  under  regal  government. 

The  dignity  of  chief  was  properly  hereditary,  but  was  not  always  so, 
especially  on  the  Continent.  Among  the  Scots  the  form  of  government 
remained  more  purely  patriarchal,  and  the  regular  succession  was  sel- 
dom interrupted:  hence  it  has  been  inferred,  that  Clanship  could  not 
have  been  derived  from  the  continental  Celts,  among  whom  power  seems 
to  have  been  elective.  It  must  be  recollected  that  these  were  in  a  dif- 
ferent situation  from  the  British  tribes,  whose  manners  had  suffered  less 
change,  and  who,  when  visited  by  the  Romans,  apparently  retained 
those  maxims  which  their  forefathers  had  brought  into  the  island.  But 
however  altered,  the  succession  of  the  princes  of  Gaul  Vv'as  not  elective 
in  the  general  sense  of  the  word.  It  has  been  shown  that  a  general  as- 
sembly of  a  nation  made  choice  from  the  nobility  or  royal  family  of  a 
general  who  should  lead  them  to  war,  a  regulation  that  was  extremely 
judicious,  for  the  chief  might  have  been  a  minor,  or  less  able  to  conduct 
the  army  than  many  of  his  experienced  nobles,  and  his  death  in  battle 
might  have  produced  very  unpleasant  consequences.  Tacitus  says, 
that  the  generals  were  chosen  for  bravery,  but  the  kings  from  splendor 
of  descent,  so  that  even  striplings  had  sometimes  the  supreme  command. 
A  new  chief  required  the  sanction  of  his  people  befpre  he  assumed  his 
title,  and  acknowledged  that  his  power  was  derived  from  their  suffrages. 
In  this  sense  it  was  a  free  election;  but,  like  a  conge  d'elire,  the  choice 

17 


130 


CELTIC  CHIEFS  WERE  NOT  DESPOTIC. 


of  the  people  usually  coincided  with  the  wish  of  the  chief,  and  the  per- 
son who  had  the  best  right  to  the  situation  was  elected.  He  was,  in 
fact,  the  heir,  by  right  of  primogeniture;  for,  among  all  the  Celtic 
nations,  the  chieftainship  was  preserved  in  a  particular  family  or  royal 
race,  as  among  the  Picts;*  and  the  Welsh,  who  had  five  royal  and 
fifteen  special  tribes,  instituted  by  Gryfyd  ap  Cynan.l  This  is  the  very 
characteristic  of  a  patriarchal  government,  and  it  must  have  been  only 
in  consequence  of  an  insurrection,  or  some  calamity,  that  the  succession 
could  have  been  altered. 

It  was  most  dangerous  to  attempt  to  obtain  the  sovereignty  of  a  tribe 
or  nation  against  the  public  consent.  Celtillus,  who  had  presided  over 
Celtic  Gaul,  lost  his  life  for  aiming  at  this  illegal  power. |  The  Helvetii 
had  a  law  by  which  one  who  had  been  found  guilty  of  such  an  attempt 
was  condemned  to  be  burned  alive.  By  the  custom  of  the  country  he 
was  allowed  to  defend  himself,  but,  during  the  trial,  he  remained  bound 
in  chains.  Orgetorix,  having  committed  this  crime,  assembled  all  his 
friends  and  followers,  to  the  number  of  10,000,  and  all  his  dependants 
on  the  day  of  trial,  for  his  rescue,  if  found  guilty.^ 

Kings  constituted,  by  the  regular  rules  of  succession,  although  enjoy- 
ing a  complete  influence  over  the  tribe,  could  not  with  impunity  act 
arbitrarily,  or  degenerate  into  tyrants,  for  the  people,  who  confirmed 
their  authority,  could  also  check  their  severity,  and  even  strip  them  of 
their  power.  They  were  controlled  by  the  opinions  of  both  chieftains 
and  Druids,  and  were  also  bound  by  acknowledged  laws;  but  they  gov- 
erned more  by  example  than  authority,  for  to  none  but  the  priests  was 
the  power  of  correction  submitted. ||  It  was  only  when  engaged  in  war 
that  the  Germans  invested  their  generals  with  power  of  life  and  death, 
the  subordinate  chiefs  appearing,  for  the  time,  to  have  resigned  their 
individual  power  of  deciding  controversies. IF  Tacitus  says,  the  influ- 
ence of  these  princes  arose  from  their  ability  to  persuade,  not  their 
power  to  command;  and  observes  it  as  an  unusual  instance  that  the 
Suiones,  in  his  time,  were  governed  by  an  absolute  chief.  The  ancient 
kings  of  the  Hebudae  islands  were  bound  to  equity  by  known  laws,*^  of 
which  more  shall  be  said  presently.  The  Highland  chiefs,  although 
they  retained  full  power  over  their  respective  clans  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Scots'  monarchy,  usually  introduced  in  the  bonds  of  Man- 
rent,  or  deeds  whereby  they  agreed  to  afford  each  other  mutual  support, 
a  covenant  excepting  their  allegiance  to  the  sovereign. 

The  connexion  of  the  Gaelic  chief  and  his  people  was  not  the  rule  of 
the  strong  over  the  weak;  it  was  maintained  by  reciprocal  advantages 
and  kindnesses.  All  the  members  of  a  clan  were  connected  with  each 
other,  and  their  common  safety  depended  on  their  united  fidelity  and  co- 
operation.   Tyranny  and  injustice  on  the  part  of  a  chief  could  not  fail  to 

*  Adomnan.  t  British  Antiquities,  p.  44.  t  Bello  Gall.  vii.  7. 

§  Bello  Gall.  i.  3.  ||  Tac.  de  mor.  Germ.  IT  Bello  Gall. 

Solinus,  c.  22. 


MODE  OF  ELECTING  THE  CELTIC  CHIEFS. 


131 


weaken  his  influence,  and,  finally,  estrange  his  kindred  and  his  friends. 
The  chief  and  his  followers  were  mutually  devoted  to  each  other;  and 
those  who,  from  accident,  old  age,  or  otherwise,  became  unable  to  support 
themselves,  were  provided  for  by  their  generous  leader,  as  the  Mac  Niels 
of  Barra,  whose  chief  always  made  up  the  loss  which  his  tenants  sustained 
through  misfortune.*  The  whole  members  again  cheerfully  contributed 
to  the  support  of  their  chief,  who  moderated  his  expenses  to  suit  the 
circumstances  of  his  people.  In  Ireland,  there  indeed  appears  to  have 
been  exactions  that  were  by  no  means  light.  Coyny  and  livery,  or  meat 
for  men  and  horses,  are  said  to  have  been  first  introduced  by  Fitzmorris, 
Earl  of  Desmond,  who  had  not  1000  marks  yearly  rent  independent  of 
his  Spendings,"  which  Queen  Elizabeth  took,  as  they  were  the  best 
part  of  his  income.|  These  last  payments  were,  perhaps,  what  is  other- 
wise called  black  rents;  other  taxes  were  bonnaght,  fowey,  kenelagh, 
cuthings'  cuddery,  coshering,  shragh,  sorehin,  carraghes,  bonnagh- 
beg,  bonnagh-burr,  barnes,  &c.  &c.  A  singular  custom  prevailed  in 
Wales;  the  three  indispensables  of  a  gentleman — his  harp,  his  tunic, 
and  his  kettle — were,  it  appears  by  the  Triads,  paid  by  a  general  con- 
tribution. So  much  was  the  honor  of  the  whole  clan  concentrated  in 
the  chief,  that  the  greatest  provocation  was  to  reproach  one  with  his 
vices  or  personal  defects;  such  an  insult  was  sufficient  to  lead  to  mortal 
combat.J 

The  system  of  Clanship  has  been  represented  as  intolerable  oppression 
on  the  part  of  the  chiefs,  and  abject  slavery  among  the  commons.  It 
would,  indeed,  appear  from  Adomnan,  ii.  c.  34.,  that  the  Picts  had  Scot- 
ish  bondmen;  but  we  most  probably  misunderstand  the  passage.  That 
the  lower  orders  in  a  clan  were  so  degraded  is  false,  for  they  enjoyed  a 
degree  of  consideration  unknown  to  other  systems  of  government ;  and 
it  is  impossible  to  believe,  that  if  they  were  so  cruelly  treated,  they 
should  have  so  enthusiastically  devoted  themselves  to  their  masters.  To 
the  Highlanders,  the  name  of  slavery  is  unknown.  Among  their  conti- 
nental ancestors,  those  who  were  called  slaves  had  each  a  house  and 
certain  ground,  for  which  he  paid  a  quantity  of  grain,  cattle,  or  clothe, 
and  thus  far  his  subserviency  extended.  For  any  to  beat,  put  in  chains, 
or  doom  a  slave  to  severe  labor,  was  scarce  known;  the  strongest  mark 
of  inferiority  appeared  when  the  chief  happened,  in  his  passion,  to  kill 
one: — he  was  not  held  liable  to  punishment.  In  other  respects,  the  slave 
and  the  freed  man  were  nearly  on  an  equality. 

The  singular  custom  of  electing  an  ancient  Celtic  chief,  or  rather 
admitting  the  legitimate  heir,  was  known  among  the  British  tribes  as  the 
Dlighe  Tanaiste,  which,  although  the  source  of  lamentable  discords  and 
bloodshed  in  Ireland,  convulsed  by  ambitious  factions,  continued  long  to 
be  followed  in  Scotland  with  less  mischief.  The  law  of  Tanaistry  not 
only  regulated  the  government  of  the  clans,  but  determined  the  succes- 


*  Martin. 

t  Birt's  Letters,  ii.  9. 


t  Present  State  of  Ireland,  1673.    Desid.  cur.  Hib. 


132 


TITLES  OF  THE  CELTIC  NOBILITY. 


sion  of  the  kings  of  Scotland  during  the  Celtic  dynasty,  or  until  1056, 
and  pervaded  the  constitution  to  a  much  later  period.  It  is  not,  says 
Dr.  Mac  Pherson,  above  200  years  since  this  custom  prevailed  in  the 
Highlands,  and  some  instances  have  occurred  later.* 

During  the  life  of  a  chief,  he  generally  appointed  his  successor  from 
the  members  of  his  own  family,  for  the  descent  by  Tanaistry  was  to  the 
oldest  and  most  worthy  of  blood  and  name;!  ^"^s  ^i^®  Gauls,  he  was 
obliged  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  clan,  J  who,  previous  to  confirmation, 
required  satisfactory  proof  of  the  military  abilities  of  their  future  com- 
mander. The  person  so  chosen  was  denominated  the  Tanaist,  or  Tan- 
istear,  a  word  which  signifies  second  person. 

The  appointment  of  a  Tanaist  was  evidently  intended  to  prevent  the 
danger  of  an  interregnum  or  minority,  for  an  experienced  person,  in  the 
maturity  of  life,  was  always  preferred  to  one  more  youthful:  and  a  male, 
although  illegitimate,  was  elected,  to  the  exclusion  of  females;  agreea- 
bly to  which  practice,  the  Galwegians,  in  the  time  of  Alexander  II., 
unanimously  rose  in  support  of  a  bastard  son  against  three  legitimate 
daughters.  An  uncle  was  also  preferred  to  a  nephew,  whose  grandfather 
survived  the  father. 

It  was  probably  from  a  feeling  of  the  relationship  of  all  the  members, 
and  a  sense  of  equality,  that  this  singular  mode  of  election  was  admitted. 
The  custom  did  not,  perhaps,  work  very  well  with  turbulent  people, 
among  whom  nothing  can  prevent  occasional  insurrection.  At  the  same 
time,  the  practice,  it  must  be  confessed,  appears  but  too  well  calculated 
to  produce  disorder.  An  elective  government  has  ever  been  a  source 
of  contention;  and,  however  well  the  Gauls  regulated  it,  evils  were 
sometimes  the  consequence.  In  Scotland,  where  Clanship  became  so 
much  refined,  it  lost  many  of  its  inconveniences.  Any  tendency  to 
misrule  was  checked  by  the  people,  whose  influence  a  chief  dare  not 
contemn;  for,  according  to  a  Celtic  saying,  "  stronger  than  the  Laird 
were  the  vassals." 

Strabo  says,  that  the  Gauls  were  anciently  accustomed  to  elect  a 
prince  and  a  captain-general  every  year.§  There  were  some  instances 
of  two  kings  reigning  jointly;  but  it  was  very  unusual.  Among  the 
^duans,  it  was  not  lawful  for  two  of  the  same  family  to  enjoy  this  dig- 
nity, or  even  to  sit  together  in  the  public  assemblies. || 

The  duty  of  the  Tanaist,  when  appointed  during  the  life  of  the  chief, 
was  to  lead  the  army.  He  was  the  captain  of  the  clan,  and  hence  he 
appears  to  me  to  have  been  denominated  the  Toshich,  which  I  do  not 
find  is  intended  for  a  difl^erent  person.  Tos  and  Toshich,  in  Gaelic,  sig- 
nify the  beginning  or  first  part  of  any  thing;  so  Toshich  came  to  denote 
the  general,  or  leader  of  the  van:  and  the  Mac  Intoshes  derive  them- 
selves from  Macduff,  who  obtained  this  right  from  Malcolm  Ceanmore. 


*  Diss.  xiii.  It  even  prevailed  among  the  Saxons.  He  says,  before  the  conquest  of 
Ireland,  Tanaist  became  obsolete  !  t  Davis's  Reports  on  Tanaistry. 

t  Caledonia  i.  306.  §  Lib.  iv.  |1  Belle  Gall,  vii.  29. 


TITLES  OF  THE  CELTIC  NOBILITY. 


133 


Dr.  Mac  Pherson  says,  the  Tanaist  and  Toshich  are  different,  which 
may  be  true  in  this  manner:  the  one  was  the  nomination  of  the  chief  and 
his  blood  relation,  the  other  the  choice  of  the  people  or  the  appointment 
of  the  king. 

A  charter  of  David  IL  to  John  Mac  Kennedy,  the  captain  of  Clan 
Muntercasduff,  authorizes  James  Kennedy,  who  had  married  Mary 
Stewart,  the  king's  daughter,  and  the  heirs  male,  to  exercise  "the  capi- 
tanship,  head  and  commandment  of  his  kin;"*  and  another  charter  of 
the  same  reign  is  "  anent  the  clan  of  Clenconan,  and  who  should  be  cap- 
tain thereof"  |  A  charter  of  Nigel,  Earl  of  Carrick,  to  Roland  de 
Carrick  and  his  heirs,  of  the  chieftainship  of  his  clan  in  all  affairs  of 
Kinkynell,  or  the  right  of  leading  the  clan  under  the  chief,  was  confirm- 
ed in  1241,  and  reconfirmed  by  Robert  the  Second. J  The  Saxon  word 
Thane,  the  Taini  of  Domesday-book,  is  assuredly  derived  from  the  Cel- 
tic Tanaist. 

Women  were  excluded  in  general  by  the  Tanaist  law,  but  cases  occur 
where  they  held  the  sovereignty  of  the  clan  by  hereditary  right,  and 
sometimes  acquired  great  influence.  It  is  true  that  Veleda,  who  be- 
came so  renowned,  bore  the  character  of  a  prophetess;  but  the  heroic 
Bondiuca  and  Cartismandua,  who  became  so  powerful  in  Britain,  were 
legitimate  princesses.  The  Sitones,  in  the  days  of  Tacitus,  were  gov- 
erned by  a  female. 

The  title  Rhi,  a  ruler,  or  king,  was  not  the  highest  in  Celtic  prece- 
dency. Tierna,  spelled  Tighearna,  literally  signifies  a  lord  or  judge,  and 
is  applied  to  all  great  men.  Even  the  Divine  Being  does  not  receive 
any  other  appellation,  a  proof  that  the  people  had  no  idea  of  any  higher 
power,  than  what  was  possessed  by  their  chiefs.  The  Rex  of  the  Romans 
is  apparently  derived  from  the  Celtic  Rhi,  as  the  Greek  Tyrannos,  a 
name  originally  applied  to  princes,  both  good  and  bad,  and  is  from  Tierna. 
This  word  which,  in  Welsh,  is  Teyrn,  has  been  derived  from  ti,  one, 
eren,  land,  as  implying  a  landed  gentleman.^  From  this  title  comes 
Ochiern  or  Oigthierna,  latinized  Ogetharius  in  Scots  law,  a  term  ap- 
plied to  the  heir  apparent  of  a  lordship,  and  composed  of  Oig,  young, 
Tierna,  Lord.    Mactiern  is  an  ancient  dignity  among  the  Bretons. 

lar  Fhlath,  from  lar,  after,  and  Fhlath,  a  prince  or  commander,  is 
pronounced  larla,  signifies  literally,  a  secondary  chief,  and  is  the  origin 
of  the  Saxon  Earl,  to  which  the  Welsh  larll  and  the  Cornish  Arluth  are 
analogous.  Other  dignities  were  the  Maormor,  i.  e.  Maor,  steward, 
officer  or  one  who  guarded,  and  more,  great, ||  a  person  who  had  the  gov- 
ernment of  provinces,  and  whose  title  was  equivalent  to  the  earls  of  afler 
ages.    Moar,  in  Manx,  is  a  collector  of  manorial  rents. 

Toscheoderach,  in  Gaelic,  Toischuachdarach,  i.  e.  a  chief  officer,  is  a 
term  that  frequently  occurs.    Niel  Mac  Niel  sold  to  James  Mac  Niel 

*  Robertson's  Index  of  Charters,  p.  149.  No.  57.  t  Ibid.  p.  57.  No.  27. 

t  Robertson's  Index,  p.  134,    Crawford's  Officers  of  State,  21. 

§  Dr.  Mac  Pherson.  ||  Mawr,  is  great  in  Welsh,  Cornish,  and  Armoric 


134 


LAWS  OF  HERITABLE  SUCCESSION. 


the  lands  of  Gigha,  with  the  Toschodairach  of  Kyntyre;*  and  Robert 
the  Third  confirms  a  charter,  in  which  John  Lachlanson,  of  Durydarach, 
grants  to  Duncan  Dalrumpil,  the  office  of  Toscheadaroch,  in  Nithsdale. 

In  Ireland,  the  Tanaist  had  certain  ''cuttings  and  spendings  on  all 
the  inhabitants."  His  lands  descended  to  the  eldest  and  most  worthy  of 
his  blood  and  name,  and  his  daughters  received  a  certain  number  of 
cattle  for  their  dowry.  In  the  Isles,  the  Tierna's  brother  claimed  Trian- 
tiernis,  or  a  third  part  of  the  estate  during  his  life,  by  right  of  immemorial 
custom.l  Amongst  the  Germans,  the  children  were  their  father's  lawful 
heirs;  and  in  default  of  issue,  the  nearest  of  kin  succeeded.  Amongst 
the  Tencteri,  one  of  their  tribes,  who  were  celebrated  equestrians,  the 
horses  were  heritable,  yet  did  not  descend  to  the  eldest  ^on,  but  to  the 
one  who  had  most  signalized  himself  by  deeds  of  valor. J 

The  custom  of  Gavel-kind,  a  mode  of  succession  still  existing  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Britain,  and  accounted  the  common  law  of  Kent,  where 
the  people  have  been  always  remarkable  for  their  tenacity  of  ancient 
practices,  was  well  known  in  Brehon  law.  By  the  Irish  practice,  le- 
gitimate and  illegitimate,  male  and  female,  received  an  equal  portion  on 
the  death  of  a  parent:  and  if  one  of  the  family  died,  the  chief  or  judge 
made  a  new  partition  of  the  whole;  for  the  share  of  the  deceased  did 
not  go  to  his  children. §  By  the  Custumal  of  Kent,  the  fire  hearth,  and 
forty  feet  around  it,  remained  with  the  youngest  son.  A  husband,  sur- 
viving his  wife,  was  entitled  to  a  moiety  of  her  gavel-kind  lands,  so  long 
as  he  remained  unmarried;  and  a  widow  had  a  similar  right,  if  she  re- 
mained single,  and  "took  diligent  heed  that  she  was  not  found  with 
child."  A  proof  of  infidelity  we  find,  was  by  the  child  being  heard  to 
cry  after  its  birth,  and  by  the  attestation  of  the  people,  assembled  by  hue 
and  cry.  II  Like  the  practice  in  Scots'  law,  property  at  death  was  by  this 
usage  divided  into  the  dead's  part,  the  wife's  part,  and  the  bairn's  part 
of  gear. 

The  inhabitants  of  Kent  preserved  the  freedom  of  their  Celtic  ances- 
tors. In  the  thirtieth  of  Edward  the  First,  it  was  declared,  that  in  this 
country  there  were  no  villains,  and  that  the  son  of  one  born  there  be- 
came free. IT  Among  other  valuable  privileges,  the  men  of  Kent  claimed 
a  right  to  a  position  in  the  vanguard  of  the  army;  hence,  Drayton  says, 

"  Of  all  the  English  shires,  be  thou  surnamed  the  free, 
And  foremost  ever  placed,  when  they  shall  reckoned  be."  ** 

A  conviction  for  felony,  or  any  other  serious  crime,  did  not  occasion  a 
forfeiture  of  the  lands,  the  heirs  never  being  affected  by  the  deeds  of 
their  parents,  according  to  the  adage.  "  The  fader  to  the  bond,  the  son 

*  Caled.  i.  451.  t  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  says  he  was  also  called  Armin. 

t  Tac.  de  mor.  Germ. 

§  Present  State  of  Ireland.    Before  the  time  of  Solon,  property  descended  equally  to 
all  relations,  but  he  permitted  the  Greeks  to  leave  it  by  will  to  whom  they  chose. 
II  Lambard's  Perambulation.  ^  Robinson  on  Gavel-kind. 

**  Polyalbion,  Canto  xviii. 


CELTIC  TENURES 


135 


to  the  lond."  In  Scotland,  fourteen  is  the  age  at  which  pupilarity  ter- 
minates. An  heir  of  Gavel-kind  became  of  age  at  fifteen.  This  mode 
of  succession  was  abolished  in  Wales  35th  Hen.  VIII.  and  by  the  3rd 
of  James  I.,  it  was  declared  illegal  in  Ireland,  but  Papists  were  after- 
wards excepted!  Considerable  difference  of  opinion  exists  respecting 
the  derivation  of  Gavel-kind.  Whittaker  gives  Gafael,  Kinead,  British, 
the  family  estate.  Ghabhail,  in  Gaelic,  is  a  receiving,  and  also  a  ten- 
ure; cine  is  kindred. 

The  Udal  inheritance  in  Orkney  resembles  Gavel-kind,  but  the 
brother  received  double  the  portion  of  a  sister.  The  kindly  tenure  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  royal  castle  of  Lochmaben,  where  the  tenants  hold  of 
the  king,  and  transmit  simply  by  possession,  is  a  vestige  of  the  Celtic 
system  of  common  holding,  and  seems  much  older  than  the  time  of 
Robert  Bruce,  by  whom  it  is  thought  to  have  been  first  granted. 

"  The  tenure  by  the  straw,"  a  customary  freehold  peculiar  to  the  Isle 
of  Man,  is  also  a  relic  of  this  ancient  usage.  The  possession  descends 
by  right  of  primogeniture,  and  extends  to  females,  with  certain  reserva- 
tions to  widows,  8cc.  The  Earl  of  Derby  having  in  the  seventeenth 
century  prevailed  on  several  of  the  inhabitants  to  surrender  this  right 
for  tenantcies  at  will,  a  prophecy  embodied  in  an  old  song,  foretelling 
that  none  who  were  accessary  to  this  alienation  of  their  right  should  be 
able  long  to  retain  an  acre,  is  said  to  have  been  duly  fulfilled. 

By  the  old  Scotish  practice,  in  giving  a  farm  to  a  tenant  for  a  long  or 
short  period,  he  was  presented  with  a  stick  and  some  straw,  which  he 
immediately  returned  to  the  proprietor,  and  they  were  mutually  bound.* 
Lands  continued  to  be  held  in  the  Highlands,  without  the  formality  of 
writing,  according  to  the  ancient  practice  in  Scotland,  until  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century. f 

The  right  of  primogeniture  among  the  Celtic  race  was,  however, 
obliged  to  give  way  to  superiority  in  military  abilities.  The  anecdote 
of  the  young  chief  of  Clanrannald  is  well  known.  On  his  return  to  take 
possession  of  his  estate,  observing  the  profuse  quantity  of  cattle  that  had 
been  slaughtered  to  celebrate  his  arrival,  he  very  unfortunately  remark- 
ed, that  a  few  hens  might  have  answered  the  purpose.  This  exposure 
of  a  narrow  mind,  and  inconsiderate  display  of  indifference  to  the  feel- 
ings of  his  people,  were  fatal.  *'  We  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  hen 
chief,"  said  the  indignant  clansmen,  and  immediately  raised  one  of  his 
brothers  to  the  dignity.  So  highly  did  the  Highlanders  value  the  quali- 
fications of  their  commander,  that  in  the  deposition  of  one  whom  they 
deemed  unworthy,  they  risked  the  evil  of  a  deadly  feud.  On  this  occa- 
sion, the  Frasers,  among  whom  young  Clanrannald  had  been  fostered, 
took  arms  to  revenge  his  disgrace;  but  they  were,  after  a  desperate  bat- 
tle, defeated  with  great  slaughter,  and  the  unhappy  hen  chief  perished 
on  the  field. 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  the  Gaelic  chiefs  ever  consulted  with  the 


*  Martin. 


t  Lord  Kames. 


136 


POWER  OF  THE  COMMONS. 


elders,  or,  if  they  did  so,  whether  it  was  otherwise  than  as  a  council  of 
war.  It  appears  to  me  that  they  had  a  regular  senate,  whose  advice 
they  availed  themselves  of  on  all  occasions.  The  Pictish  kings  had  such 
an  establishment,  as  we  learn  from  Adomnan,  and  "  the  chiefs  of  the  Yles 
chose  a  king,  and  adjoined  to  him  ane  counsel  of  the  wisest."*  This 
counsel  was  formed,  perhaps,  of  those,  who  also  acted  as  judges.  Near 
Isla,  says  Buchannan,  is  Ilan  na  Covihaslop,  or  the  island  of  council, 
where  fourteen  of  the  chief  men  sat  daily  for  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice.|  From  the  Regiam  Majestatem,  it  appears  the  chiefs  had  twelve 
counsellors,  who  sat  in  deliberation  with  them;  an  establishment  to  which 
I  have  seen  reference  in  an  old  poem,  and  which  is  believed  to  have 
been  introduced  in  the  Hebrides  by  the  Norse  men.  It  was,  however, 
common  to  all  Celtic  nations,  the  people  always  maintaining  a  right  to 
advise,  and  even  a  power  to  control  their  rulers.  In  a  Gaelic  poem 
dedicated  by  Mac  Dary,  to  O'Brian,  of  Thomond,  it  is  said,  "that  it 
was  every  man's  duty  to  possess  the  ear  of  his  sovereign,  with  useful 
truths."  The  declaration  made  in  1309  by  the  Scots  nobility,  is  a  strong 
proof  of  the  limited  nature  of  the  monarchy.  It  is  there  stated,  that  the 
title  of  King  Robert  Bruce  was  conferred  by  the  people;  and  that,  be 
ing  advanced  by  their  authority  to  the  crown,  he  was  thereby  made  King 
of  Scotland.J 

The  public  meetings  of  the  Celts  were  frequent,  for  nothing  could  be 
done  but  by  popular  consent:  the  nobles  met  occasionally  by  themselves. 
On  Caesar's  advance  into  Gaul,  he  says,  a  great  council  of  princes  was 
held.  Polybius  also  notices  these  assemblies.  When  practicable,  they 
were  held  on  certain  days,  the  full  or  change  of  the  moon  being  reckon- 
ed most  fortunate.  The  people  never  met  without  being  armed,  delib- 
erating, as  Nicholas  Damascenus  expresses  it,  on  the  affairs  of  state, 
"girded  with  iron."§  When  the  Suevian  monarchy  had  under  the  Ro- 
mans become  absolute,  the  arms  were  deposited  in  a  public  arsenal, 
"  guarded  by  slaves,"  for  it  did  not  suit,  says  Tacitus,  "  the  interest  of 
an  arbitrary  prince  to  trust  the  power  of  arms  with  any  but  a  slave." 
In  the  public  assemblies  were  chosen  the  chiefs  who  administered  justice, 
to  each  of  whom  were  assigned  one  hundred  persons,  chosen  from  the 
people,  to  accompany  him  and  assist  him  with  their  counsel  and  authori- 
ty.[|  The  chief  magistrate  among  the  ^duans  was  elected  annually. 
He  was  called  Vergobretus,  and  had  the  power  of  life  and  death,  but 
was  not  allowed  to  go  out  of  the  kingdom. IF  Fear  gubreath,  the  man 
to  command,  or  the  person  who  judges,  is  a  well  known  Gaelic  appella- 
tion. The  Germans  have  Werkober;**  and  the  Mayors  of  Autun,  the 
capital  of  the  ^duans,  are  still  called  Vierg.'f'f 

In  these  assemblies  it  was  allowed  to  present  accusations  and  prose- 

*  "  Manner  of  choosing  the  Kings  of  Scotland  of  old."    MS.  in  Brit.  Museum, 
t  Lib.  i.  t  The  Right  of  the  House  of  Stewart  to  the  Crown  considered,  1746. 

§  Ap.  StobsBus,  470.  ||  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ.  Bello  Gall.  i.  14.  31. 

**  Werk,  opus.    Ober,  supremum.  tt  Diss.  Historique  sur  divers  sujets,  1706. 


POPULAR  ASSEMBLIES. 


137 


cute  capital  offences  On  small  affairs,  the  chiefs  decided;  0at  on  those 
of  greater  moment,  the  whole  nation  deliberated.  The  king's  influence, 
like  that  of  any  other  member,  arose  from  his  ability  to  persuade,  for  he 
possessed  no  individual  authority  to  command,  and  had  only  the  privilege 
of  speaking  first.  All  those  matters  on  which  the  people  decided,  were 
afterwards  examined  and  discussed  by  the  chiefs.*  Here  are  the  Celtic 
houses  of  Lords  and  Commons. 

At  their  feasts,  which  were  frequent  among  all  the  Celtae,  the  Ger- 
mans deliberated  about  choosing  their  princes,  reconciling  parties,  form- 
ing affinities,  and  discussed  the  questions  of  peace  and  war.  They 
reckoned  this  the  most  proper  time  for  considering  those  subjects,  the 
heart  being  opened,  and  the  mind  fired  with  great  and  bold  ideas,  for 
these  people  were  nowise  subtle  or  politic,  but  disclosed  to  each  other 
their  most  secret  thoughts.  But  they  did  not  rashly  decide  on  any  mat- 
ter, for  they  met  next  day,  and  coolly  revised  and  canvassed  the  various 
opinions  of  the  preceding  evening.*  "  They  consult,"  says  Tacitus, 
"when  they  know  not  how  to  dissemble;  they  determine,  when  they  can- 
not mistake.*' 

This,  indeed,  appears  a  little  at  variance  with  what  Caesar  has  said  of 
the  Gauls,  that  it  was  not  permitted  to  speak  of  public  affairs,  but  by 
permission  of  the  council,  a  regulation  necessary  to  prevent  the  mischief 
which  occurred,  in  consequence  of  the  credulity  of  the  people,  who  held 
slight  reports  as  if  they  were  a  matter  of  experience. "f  The  excessive 
curiosity  of  the  Gauls,  so  similar  to  that  of  the  present  Highlanders,  led 
them  to  stop  passengers,  and  oblige  them  to  tell  all  the  news  they  had 
heard,  before  they  were  suffered  to  proceed;  and  any  vague  rumour 
affected  them  as  if  it  were  certain  information.  It  was,  therefore,  a  law 
with  some,  that  those  who  had  any  news,  should  communicate  with  none 
until  the  magistrates  had  been  informed,  who,  to  prevent  any  commotion, 
were  wont  to  conceal  some  things,  and  only  impart  to  the  public  that 
which  it  was  necessary  should  be  known. J  Spenser  relates  an  anecdote 
of  a  Frenchman  who,  struck  with  the  curiosity  of  the  Irish,  having  met 
with  one  on  the  continent  after  many  years'  separation,  asked  him  if  he 
had  ever  heard  the  news  about  which  he  so  anxiously  inquired  when  in 
Ireland.  If  you  meet  one  in  the  Highlands,  this  thirst  for  information 
will  be  very  apparent;  the  answer  to  any  question  you  may  ask,  is  like- 
ly to  be,  '*  Where  may  you  have  come  from?"  "  You  are  going  south,  it 
is  likely;"  "  You  come  from  such  a  place,  perhaps;"  or  so  on. 

Among  the  ancient  Celts  there  was  no  distinction  of  seats  in  places 
of  assembly,  but  each  sat  where  he  pleased.  Every  one  was  heard  with 
attention,  and  a  singular  custom  prevailed  in  order  to  preserve  order; 
if  any  one  interrupted  the  person  who  was  speaking,  an  officer  came 
with  a  drawn  knife,  and,  with  threatening,  ordered  him  to  desist.  This 

*  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ.  t  Bello  Gall.  vii.  4. 

t  Ibid.  iv.  5.  In  Iceland,  the  chief  men,  by  law,  had  the  privilege  of  first  convers 
ing  with  the  crew  of  a  vessel  that  had  newly  arrived. 

18 


138 


THE  STONE  OF  DESTINY. 


he  repeated  a  second  and  a  third  time;  and  if  the  party  still  continued 
refractory,  the  messenger  cut  off  as  much  of  his  garment  as  rendered 
what  was  left  useless.* 

When  the  Highland  chief  entered  on  his  government,  he  was  placed 
on  the  top  of  a  cairn,  raised  in  the  form  of  a  pyramid,  and  around  him, 
but  lower,  stood  his  friends  and  followers.  One  of  the  principal  persons 
then  delivered  him  a  sword  and  a  white  wand;  and  the  orator,  bard  or 
Druid,  recounting  his  pedigree,  enumerated  the  exploits  of  his  ancestors, 
and  exhorted  the  young  chief  to  emulate  their  noble  example. "f  By  the 
Tanaist  law,  in  Ireland,  when  the  chief  was  elected,  he  stood  on  a  stone 
placed  on  a  hill,  and  took  an  oath  to  preserve  all  the  ancient  customs 
inviolate, J  and  deliver  peaceable  possession  to  his  successor.  He,  like 
the  Highland  chief,  received  a  wand,  and,  on  descending  from  the  stone, 
he  turned  thrice  round  backwards  and  thrice  forwards.  The  Tanaist,  on 
his  election,  performed  the  same  ceremonies,  but  set  one  foot  only  on 
the  seat  of  inauguration.  The  stone  on  which  the  Lords  of  the  Isles 
were  crowned,  bearing  the  marks  of  the  feet,  still  exists;  and  near  the 
cathedral  of  Cashel  is  one  used  by  the  Kings  of  Munster  for  a  similar 
purpose. 

The  practice  of  crowning  a  king  upon  a  stone  is  of  extreme  antiquity. 
The  celebrated  coronation  chair,  the  seat  of  which  is  formed  of  the  slab 
on  which  the  kings  of  Scotland  were  inaugurated,  is  an  object  of  curios- 
ity to  those  who  visit  Westminster  Abbey.  The  history  of  this  stone  is 
carried  back  to  a  period  far  beyond  all  authentic  record;  and  the  Irish 
say  that  it  was  first  in  their  possession.  According  to  Wintoun,  its 
original  situation  was  in  lona.  It  was  certainly  in  Argyle,  where  it  is 
believed  to  have  remained  long  at  the  castle  of  Dunstaflnage,  before  it 
was  removed  to  Scone,  the  place  of  coronation  for  the  kings  of  Scotland, 
whence  it  was  carried  to  London  by  Edward  the  First.  This  curious 
relic  is  of  a  dark  color,  and  appears  to  be  that  sort  found  near  Dundee. 
It  was  looked  on  with  great  veneration  by  the  ancient  Scots,  who  believ- 
ed the  fate  of  the  nation  depended  on  its  preservation.  The  Irish  called 
it  Cloch  na  cinearnna,  the  stone  of  fortune,  and  the  Scots  preserve  the 
following  oracular  verse: 

Cinnidh  Scuit  saor  am  fine, 

Mar  breug  am  faistine  : 

Far  am  faighear  an  lia-fail, 

Dlighe  flaitheas  do  ghabhail. 

"  The  race  of  the  free  Scots  shall  flourish,  if  this  prediction  is  not 
false:  wherever  the  stone  of  destiny  is  found,  they  shall  prevail  by  the 
right  of  Heaven."  Its  possession  was  considered  of  so  much  impor- 
tance, that  its  restitution  was  made  an  express  article  in  a  treaty  of 
peace,  and  the  subject  of  a  personal  conference  between  David  the  Sec- 

*  Strabo,  iv  p.  197.  t  Martin's  Western  Islands,  102,  &c. 

t  Spenser's  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland,  1G33.  Some  of  these  stones  bore  the  im- 
pression of  a  foot  mark. 


ORIGIN  OF  FEUDAL  TENURES. 


139 


ond  and  Edward.*  The  office  of  placing  the  king  on  this  stone  was  the 
hereditary  right  of  the  Earls  of  Fife. 

Saxo  Grammaticus,  lib.  1,  says  it  was  the  ancient  custom  in  Denmark 
to  crown  the  kings  sitting  on  a  stone.  In  1396,  in  the  circle  called  Mo- 
rasten,  near  Upsall,  this  ceremony  was  performed.  It  is  curious  to  find 
this  Celtic  practice  retained  in  the  kingdom  of  Britain,  and  to  find  its  re- 
vered monarch  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  kings  of  the  "  free  Scots." 

These  inauguration  seats  were  always  placed  on  eminences.  On 
Quothquan  Law,  a  beautiful  green  hill  in  the  ward  of  Lanark,  is  a  stone 
artificially  hollowed,  on  which  it  is  said  that  Wallace  sat  in  conference 
with  his  chiefs. 

The  famous  coronation  chair  was  placed  upon  the  moot  hill  of  Scone, 
and,  seated  on  it,  the  kings  of  Scotland  promulgated  the  laws,  as  is 
recorded  of  Kenneth  MacAlpin,  about  850,  of  Malcolm  II.  1006,  and 
Robert  the  Bruce,  who,  the  day  after  his  coronation,  1306,  sat  "  super 
montem  de  Scone."  The  Gaelic  moid,  from  which  the  Saxon,  moot, 
Swedish,  mote,  &c.  are  derived,  signifies  a  court  or  place  of  meeting; 
and  these  picturesque  knolls  are  found  all  over  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
The  Tinwald  of  Man  is  a  singular  object  of  this  nature.  On  this  mount, 
the  ancient  kings  were  crowned,  and  the  name  signifies  the  place  of 
convocation;  a  term  applied  to  the  ancient  Irish  parliament. "f 

The  learned  Whittaker  says.  Feudal  tenures  are  coeval  with  the 
plantation  of  the  island;  and  from  all  that  is  preserved  concerning  the 
Celtic  form  of  government,  he  is  warranted  in  the  assertion;  not  that 
the  system,  as  it  appeared  when  refined  by  the  Normans,  prevailed  in 
the  first  ages,  but  those  usages  on  which  it  was  founded  originated  with 
the  Celts.  Another  writer  has  declared  that  feudism  extends  from  the 
earliest  ages,  and  the  rudiments  of  it  may  be  clearly  perceived  in  the 
institutions  of  clanship. J  We  have  seen  the  freedom  of  this  mode  of 
government,  and  observed  that  the  customs  of  the  people  were  regulated 
by  certain  rules  of  immemorial  practice.  It  has,  indeed,  been  stated 
that  there  being  but  two  classes,  the  nobles  and  villains,  among  the 
British  tribes,  it  was  impossible  for  the  feudal  system  to  exist  in  that 
state  of  society;  but  the  latter  class  were  not  debased  in  those  early 
periods:  in  Kent,  where  the  Celtic  manners  long  remained,  villainage 
was  unknown. 

The  followers  of  a  Celtic  chief  were  treated  with  a  degree  of  respect 
unknown  in  those  countries  where  the  laborers  were  considered  as  the 
live  stock  of  a  farm,  and  were  regularly  sold  with  the  land  whereon  they 
lived.  The  lowest  members  of  a  clan  were  of  some  consequence  in  the 
community,  and  felt  a  lively  interest  in  all  the  quarrels  in  which  the 
tribe  might  be  engaged.  They  followed  their  leaders,  not  from  com- 
pulsion, but  from  a  sense  of  the  justice  of  the  cause,  and  from  a  venera- 

*  AylofFs  Cal.  of  Charters,  Introd.  p.  58. 
t  See  Johnstone's  Ant.  Celto  Normannia. 
t  Dr.  Mac  Pherson's  Diss.  p.  140. 


140 


KNIGHTHOOD. 


tion  to  their  superiors,  their  natural  chiefs.  With  them  "the  power  of 
a  father  was  the  prerogative  of  a  sovereign;  and  the  obedience  of  a  son 
the  submission  of  a  subject."*  The  rude  plenty  of  the  chief's  hospita- 
ble board  was  the  only  pay  that  he  could  bestow,  or  the  clansmen  ac- 
cept; the  gifts  which  the  warriors  received,  being  accepted,  as  they  were 
bestowed,  without  being  considered  as  obligations;!  and  this  mode  of 
life,  "  however  it  might  accidentally  weaken  the  several  republics,  in- 
vigorated the  general  character."  J 

It  is  a  fact  that  many  Highland  chiefs  had  no  better  proof  of  title  to 
their  lands  than  having  possessed  them  from  time  immemorial,  and  were 
much  alarmed  when  Bruce  required  them  to  exhibit  their  charters.  It  is 
even  related  of  some,  that,  at  a  much  later  period,  they  felt  most  indig- 
nant that  they  should  be  required  to  hold  by  a  roll  of  parchment  what 
their  ancestors  had  acquired  by  their  sword,  and  held  so  long  by  no 
other  tenure. 

Mac  Donald  of  Keppoch,  disdaining  to  hold  by  a  sheepskin  the  lands 
of  Glenroy,  in  1687,  asserted  by  arms  his  right,  against  Mac  Intosh,  who 
had  obtained  a  crown  charter  of  the  disputed  territory,  vanquished  and 
took  him  prisoner,  in  a  desperate  battle,  and  then  compelled  him  to  re- 
nounce his  acquired  claim.  In  requital  for  his  temerity,  Keppoch's 
lands  were  laid  waste,  with  fire  and  sword,  by  a  strong  body  of  regular 
troops.  The  ancestors  of  Lord  Ree  had  no  charter  for  their  lands  until 
1499. 

The  Lords  of  the  Isles,  in  conveying  lands  to  their  followers,  used  a 
very  simple  form  of  charter,  drawn  up,  according  to  the  curious  ancient 
practice,  in  rhyme,  and  running  in  this  form:  "I,  Donald,  chief  of  the 
Mac  Donalds,  give,  here  in  my  castle,  to  Mac  Kay,  a  right  to  Kilma- 
humag,  from  this  day  till  to-morrow,  and  so  on  forever."  Kneeling  on 
the  "black  stones,"  he  confirmed  these  grants. 

Camden,  Spelman,  and  other  learned  authors,  consider  knighthood  to 
have  been  derived  from  the  public  investment  of  youth  with  arms,§  a 
practice,  as  already  described,  that  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  that 
offeudism.  This  system  was  decidedly  military,  and  the  whole  institu- 
tions of  Celtic  policy  were  of  a  similar  character.  The  military  expedi- 
tions of  the  Celtic  warrior,  the  probation  of  his  virtues  and  abilities,  were 
like  those  of  the  knights  of  later  times,  who,  when  there  was  no  field  for 
exertion  at  home,  set  out  in  quest  of  adventures,  and,  by  constant  exer- 
cise, preserved  their  warlike  prowess.  Chivalrous  individuals  in  the 
Highlands  were  accustomed  to  go  about  like  knights  errant,  and  if  not 
propitiated  by  a  certain  tribute,  they  asked  a  fair  battle  without  favor. 
Dr.  Mac  Pherson  found  some  persons  who  had  seen  these  champions. 

Caesar  says  the  robbery  of  other  tribes  was  encouraged  among  the 
Gauls,  to  prevent  effeminacy.  Military  virtue  must  have  been  highly 
valued  where  it  was  the  sole  safe-guard  of  national  independence. 

*  Whittaker.  t  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ.  c.  21. 

t  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  c.  12. 
§  See  also  Dr.  Mac  Pherson's  Diss 


FORAYS  OF  THE  HIGHLANDERS. 


141 


*'  Treacherous,"  exclaims  the  eloquent  Tacitus,  "  is  that  repose  ^vflich 
you  enjoy  amongst  neighbors  that  are  powerful  and  fond  of  rule  and 
mastership;  when  the  sword  is  drawn,  quietness  and  fair  dealing  will  be 
in  vain  pleaded  by  the  weaker."* 

Careful  as  the  Celts  were  to  cherish  a  warlike  spirit,  they  did  not  live 
in  that  turbulence  and  anarchy  which  some  have  supposed.  They  fought 
desperately  in  a  cause  of  quarrel:  but  valor  was  not  more  esteemed  than 
fidelity  to  their  fi lends  and  hospitality  to  strangers,  — two  characteristic 
virtues  of  the  age  of  chivalry.  To  kill  a  stranger,  was  death;  exile  the 
only  punishment  for  the  murder  of  a  native.  | 

The  Ligurians  and  Iberi  guarded  those  who  were  passing  through 
their  respective  countries,  whether  Greeks  or  Celts;  and  a  fine  was  ex- 
acted from  the  people  in  whose  territories  a  traveller  might  receive  an 
injury. J 

Distracted  with  inveterate  feuds,  often  promoted  to  accelerate  their 
destruction;  living  distinct  from  the  Lowlanders,  and  obnoxious  to  their 
laws;  yet  the  state  of  the  Highlanders  appears  at  no  time  to  have  been 
so  bad  as  that  of  the  people  on  the  borders  of  the  two  kingdoms,  where 
the  government  was  often  unable  to  repress  the  greatest  outrages. 

The  Highlanders  made  their  Creachs^  on  hostile  tribes  only,  or  car- 
ried their  hariships  into  districts  of  the  low  country;  where  the  inhabitants 
were  inimical  to  their  welfare,  and  were  taught  to  consider  the  moun- 
taineers as  "  barbarous,  ethnick,"  and  opposed  to  all  social  order. 

Their  forays  were  only  a  retaliation  for  recent  injuries,  or  in  revenge 
of  former  wrongs,  for  they  were  careful  of  offending  a  clan  with  whom 
they  were  in  amity.  The  Camerons  having,  by  mistake,  attacked  the 
Grants  of  Moynes,  the  chief  complained  severely  to  Lochiel  of  the  out- 
rage, who  sent  an  immediate  apology,  regretting  that,  through  ignorance, 
they  had  attempted  to  plunder  the  lands  of  their  friends,  and  offering  to 
submit  the  adjustment  of  their  respective  losses  to  arbitration.  He  had 
not  much  reason  to  dread  the  award,  for  the  Grants  had  defeated  the  in- 
vaders; and  their  chief  complains  that  he  had  eight  dead  and  twelve  un- 
der cure,  "  whilk  he  knew  not  who  should  live  or  who  should  die." 

They  did  not  engage  in  these  raids  from  a  mere  pleasure  in  robbing 
their  neighbors.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  submitted  to  many 
grievances  before  they  resorted  to  arms.  A  scarcity  made  them  bethink 
themselves  on  whom  they  could  levy  a  contribution.  A  hint  from  a 
clansman,  who  was  obliged,  from  hunger,  to  gnaw  a  bone,  induced  his 
chief  to  undertake  a  foray  which  is  still  celebrated  as  creach  an  aisne, 
i.  e.  of  the  rib;  but  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  they  would,  on  any  consider- 
ation, rob  a  friendly  or  unoffending  tribe.  When  they  carried  off  cattle, 
or  other  spoil,  it  was  with  the  consciousness  that  their  own  herds  were 
exposed  to  the  risk  of  being  appropriated  by  others.    Rapine  and  mutual 

*  De  Mor.  Germ.    Gordon's  Trans. 

t  Nich.  Damascenus,  ap.  StobjBus,  470.  t  Aristotle. 

§  Creagh,  a  prey.    The  same  word  in  German  is  war. 


142 


BLACKMAIL. 


aggression  were,  in  some  degree,  unavoidable  consequences  of  the  statft 
of  society;  but  the  evil  was  not  so  serious  to  the  inhabitants  as  might  be 
supposed.  "The  creach,"  says  a  Gaelic  proverb,  "is  not  so  bad,  from 
which  the  half  is  recovered;  "  and  again,  "  What  the  worse  is  one  of  the 
foray,  if  it  lessen  not  the  race;  "  property,  it  has  been  observed,  must  be 
perfectly  established  before  the  loss  of  it  can  be  felt.  There  was  no  pf 
culiar  pleasure  in  eating  cattle  that  were  not  their  own.  Derrick,  in- 
deed, says  of  the  Irish,  that, 

"  The  stolen  horse,  the  mutton,  and  tlie  beef, — 
Which  things  to  want,  who  holds  it  not  a  grief." 

But  the  Highlander  knew  that  a  rupture  with  his  neighbors  placed  his 
own  flocks  in  peril;  while,  if  the  war  was  not  successful,  hunger  and 
misery  was  certain  to  ensue. 

The  Highlanders  had  a  peculiar  faculty  of  tracing  the  cattle  which 
had  been  lifted  or  carried  off.  They  were  able  not  only  to  trace  their 
foot-marks  on  the  grass,  but  even  to  distinguish  those  which  were  merely 
straying  from  others  driven  along  by  the  enemy. 

When  the  track  of  the  cattle  was  lost,  the  person  on  whose  property 
it  might  happen,  became  liable  either  to  recover  the  trace,  or  make  res- 
titution to  the  amount  lost.  This  wholesome  regulation  acquired  the 
force  of  'law.  It  was  a  no  less  salutary  regulation  which  made  a  chief 
answerable  for  the  deed  of  his  clansman,  and  obliged  him  to  deliver  up 
an  offender.  This  was  called  cincogish,  from  cine,  a  tribe,  and  congish, 
affinity.  Alfred  had  a  law  of  this  kind,  and  it  was  embodied  in  the  stat- 
utes of  Scotland. 

Tasgal  money  was  a  reward  offered  for  the  recovery  of  stolen  cattle ; 
but  the  Highlanders  were  so  averse  to  a  system  by  which  they  were  lia- 
ble to  get  into  awkward  circumstances,  that  it  was  unanimously  discour- 
aged; some  clans,  as  the  Camerons,  bound  themselves  by  oath  never  to 
accept  such  a  bribe,  and  to  put  to  death  any  individual  who  should  do 
otherwise. 

Their  dexterity  in  plundering  induced  the  people  of  the  low  country, 
and  even  borough  towns,  to  agree  with  certain  parties  for  protection,  on 
condition  of  their  paying  a  stipulated  sum  under  the  name  of  black  mail. 

These  agreements  were  for  a  certain  extent  of  country  and  a  limited 
time.  If  the  mail  was  not  punctually  paid,  the  Highlander  had  little 
difficulty  in  liquidating  his  own  claims;  and  if  the  cattle  were  stolen  by 
others,  he  made  good  the  loss.  It  was  usually  stipulated  that,  in  case 
of  civil  commotion,  the  parties  should  be  released.  If  one  had  a  claim 
on  another,  and  could  not  get  payment,  he  might  carry  ofl^  as  many  cat- 
tle as  were  sufficient  to  cover  the  amount,  provided  he  sent  notice  that 
he  had  done  so,  when  out  of  the  reach  of  pursuit,  and  intimated  his  wish 
to  return  them  if  his  demand  were  satisfied. 

The  chief  received  two-thirds  of  the  spoil  acquired  in  a  foray,  or  its 

produce;  and  the  other  third  was  the  share  of  the  captors.*    It  was, 

____ 


LAWS. 


143 


besides,  customary  to  pay  a  certain  number  of  cattle,  or  amount  of  other 
booty,  to  a  chieftain,  through  whose  lands  the  party  might  be  obliged  to 
pass.  About  1341,  John  Munro,  tutor  to  the  laird  of  Foulis,  having,  in 
revenge  of  certain  injuries,  carried  off  a  prey  of  cattle  from  Strathardale, 
in  Perth,  was  asked  by  Macintosh,  in  passing  Moyhall,  for  part  of  the 
spoil,  according  to  custom.  A  reasonable  portion  was  offered,  but  Mac- 
intosh insisting  on  the  half,  collected  his  vassals,  and,  pursuing  the 
Munros,  overtook  them  at  Clach  na  harry,  who,  sending  the  booty  to  a 
place  of  safety,  stood  to  their  arms  and  overthrew  their  assailants,  most 
part  of  whom,  with  the  chief,  were  slain. 

Laws  are  valuable  materials  in  the  history  of  nations:  they  are  true 
evidences  of  the  domestic  state  of  society,  at  the  periods  when  they 
prevailed.  Laws  are  at  first  traditionary,  and  in  this  state  they  existed 
among  the  Celtic  nations,  long  before  they  were  written.  Until  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland  was  firmly  consolidated,  the  tribes  were  governed 
by  their  traditionary  customs  and  local  usages. 

The  Scotish  law  was  undoubtedly  indigenous,  and  appears  compose** 
of  the  unrecorded  practice  of  the  Celts,  and  much  of  the  statute  law 
which  prevailed  in  England,  and  must  have  been  equally  derived  fror« 
ancient  British  customs.  Much  of  the  existing  common  law  of  the  laiv' 
is  to  be  deduced  from  the  era  of  Druidism,  and  Montesquieu  shows,  tha 
the  English  constitution  itself  emanates  from  a  pastoral  state  of  society 
The  old  terms  in  Scots  law  being  Gaelic,  and  the  laws  themselves  dis- 
tinctly pointing  to  the  customs  of  those  nations,  it  must  be  inferred  tha' 
the  system  of  jurisprudence  existed  before  it  was  embodied  in  the 
"Regiam  Majestatem."  To  the  Celtic  institutions  of  our  ancestors, 
are  assuredly  to  be  referred  most  of  the  national  statutes,  and  the  ancient 
usages  of  Scotland,  which  Lord  Stair  declares  to  be  a  common  law. 

A  very  ancient  body  of  laws,  called  the  Malmutin,  from  their  author, 
was  translated  from  Celtic  into  Latin  by  Gildas  Albanius,  and  rendered 
into  Saxon  by  King  Alfred.*  Fingal  is  celebrated  by  the  Irish  for  his 
wisdom  in  making  laws,  some  of  which,  O 'Flaherty  says,  were  extant 
in  his  own  time.  Adomnan,  who  lived  in  the  end  of  the  seventh  century, 
propagated  the  Macentian  code;  and  Aodh,  or  Ethfin,  enacted  laws 
that  are  noticed  in  the  Pictish  Chronicle,  as  those  of  Edi.  They  were 
renewed  by  Kenneth  Mac  Alpin,  the  celebrated  king  and  legislator. 
The  Welsh  laws,  although  of  high  antiquity,  were  not  recorded  until 
the  time  of  Hwyel  Dha,  in  the  tenth  century.  That  those  of  Scotland, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  were  different  from  the 
English,  we  learn  by  the  attempts  of  Edward  the  First,  to  abolish  the 

usages  and  customs  of  the  Scots  and  Brets."  In  Galloway,  they  were 
confirmed  by  Robert  the  Bruce  and  David  the  First,!  and  remained  in 
force  longer  than  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  In  Ireland,  they  exist- 
ed within  these  two  hundred  years. 

The  Druids  combined  the  offices  of  priest  and  legislator,  and  decided 

*  Dempster's  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  vi.  i  Robertson's  Index  of  Charters. 


144 


TINGS,  CIRCLES,  OR  LAW  COURTS. 


according  to  maxims  traditionally  handed  down  from  the  most  remote 
periods.  Law  and  religion  are  closely  connected  in  primitive  society, 
and  not  entirely  disjoined  in  periods  the  most  refined.  The  Celtic  priest- 
hood possessed  the  highest  power;  but,  during  war,  they  shared  it  with 
the  chiefs,  who,  in  peace,  were  also  permitted  to  decide  in  minor  affairs. 
The  Feargubreath  was,  most  likely,  of  the  druidical  order.  The  office 
was  anciently  elective  on  the  continent,  but  in  these  islands  the  judge 
was  hereditary.  He  was  styled  the  Brehon  or  Brithib,  and  gave  name 
to  the  laws  by  which  he  decided.    In  Man  they  are  still  called  Breast. 

These  judges  had  a  good  farm  assigned  for  their  support,  and  were 
besides  entitled  to  the  eleventh,  twelfth,*  or  thirteenth,!  of  the  fines 
imposed.  In  the  Isle  of  Man,  the  Keys,  who  were  anciently  called 
Taxiaxi:  the  Deemsters,  the  Coroners,  and  all  officers  of  justice,  for- 
merly lived  at  the  king's  expense.  The  judge  had  the  assistance  of  a 
council  of  twelve  or  fourteen,  who,  in  the  Western  Isles,  sat  daily  for 
the  administration  of  justice. J  He  had  no  power  of  legislation,  for  the 
king  himself  could  not  abrogate  or  enact  a  law  without  the  consent  of 
the  people.  It  does  not  appear  that  in  early  ages  there  was  a  regular 
jury.  In  the  twelfth  century,  the  people  of  Galloway  decided  without 
one.  The  Northern  nations  we,  however,  find  had  anciently  twelve 
compurgators;  and  in  some  parts  of  Norway  the  peasants  are  at  this 
day  tried  by  a  jury  of  themselves,  whose  decision  is  final,  and  who  pro- 
portion the  punishment  with  strict  regard  to  the  guilt  of  the  parties.  To 
dispute  the  award  of  this  rustic  tribunal,  is  to  become  an  outcast  from 
society. §  In  Man,  twelve  men  from  each  sheading  were  summoned  to 
attend  the  Alting;  but  this  number,  being  a  total  of  seventy-two,  from 
whom  the  doomers  were  chosen,  was  reduced  by  Sir  John  Stanley  to 
twenty-four,  who  are  now  self-elected. 

The  Brehon  required  no  clerk  to  register  the  proceedings.  In  Scot- 
land, he  sat  on  the  top  of  a  hillock,  and  sometimes  placed  himself  on  the 
middle  of  a  bridge.  In  Ireland,  we  are  told,  he  "  sitteth  him  downe  on 
a  banke,  the  lords  and  the  gentlemen  at  variance  round  about  him." 
David  the  First,  of  Scotland,  sat  on  certain  days  at  the  door  of  his  pal- 
ace, to  hear  and  decide  the  causes  of  the  poor.H  The  practice  of  hold- 
ing courts  in  the  open  air,  which  so  long  prevailed  in  Britain,  was  a 
relic  of  Druidism,  which  subsisted  in  most  European  countries.  The 
court  of  Areopagus,  at  Athens,  sat  in  the  open  air;  and  Pliny  informs 
us  the  Roman  senate  was  first  so  held. IT  That  circular  enclosures  of 
stone  were  used  as  courts  of  justice^  and  places  for  trial  by  combat,  is 
well  known.**  In  Scandinavia,  they  were  long  so  appropriated;  and  in 
Shetland  and  Orkney  the  practice  continued  to  very  late  times.  In 

*  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  f  Highland  Soc.  Rep.  on  Ossian's  Poems, 

t  Buchannan.  §  Conway's  Journey. 

II  Scotichron,  v.  20.  IT  Lib.  viii.  c.  45. 

**  One  of  these  on  the  hill  of  Tyrebacher,  Aberdeenshire,  is  represented  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter. 


MANNER  OF  HOLDING  THEM. 


145 


these  last  places  they  were  called  Ting,  which,  according  to  Dr.  Mur- 
ray, originally  signified  to  surround,  and  is  therefore  of  similar  import 
with  the  Gaelic  cearcail,  the  Circus  or  round  temple,  which  seems  to 
have  been  the  place  where  laws  were  originally  enacted  and  promul- 
gated: the  Tings  being,  at  first,  judicial  only,  but  in  process  of  time 
they  became  also  legislative. 

On  the  abolition  of  Druidism,  the  courts  which  had  been  held  in  the 
circles,  were  transferred  to  the  church;  but  the  practice  being  deemed 
incompatible  with  Christianity,  it  was  prohibited  by  an  express  canon. 
It  appears  to  me,  that  from  this  originated  the  Moothills,  or  eminences, 
on  which  law  courts  were  afterwards  held.  The  most  remarkable  object 
of  this  kind  is  the  Tynwald,  in  the  Isle  of  Man,  represented  in  the 
vignette  to  this  Chapter,  upon  which  the  Duke  of  Athol,  as  descendant 
of  the  ancient  kings,  annually  presides.  In  1417,  Sir  John  Stanley, 
then  king,  was  thus  instructed  in  the  regal  duties,  and  official  practice, 
which  are  almost  the  same  in  the  present  day.  He  was  to  sit  in  his 
robes  of  state  upon  the  hill  of  Tynwald  in  a  chair,  his  face  to  the  east, 
and  his  sword  before  him,  held  with  the  point  upwards;  his  barons  in 
the  second  degree  sitting  beside  him,  his  beneficed  men  and  deemsters 
also  sitting  before  him;  his  clerks,  knights,  'squires,  and  yeomen  being 
around  him  in  the  third  degree.  The  commons,  with  three  clerks  in 
their  surplices,  stood  outside  the  circle  of  the  hill.  The  deemsters  called 
in  the  coroners,  who  carried  their  rods  in  their  hands,  and  their  weapons 
about  them,  either  sword  or  axe.  The  Moars  of  every  sheading  came 
also,  and  the  coroner  of  Glenfaba  made  a  fence  with  much  solemnity, 
prohibiting  all  from  making  disturbance,  under  the  pain  of  hanging  and 
drawing,  while  the  king  opened  the  court,  promising  to  decide  as  up- 
rightly as  the  staff  in  his  hand. 

The  Godordsman,  Gode,  or  priest,  summoned  the  inhabitants  by  a 
stick  or  stone.  The  token  of  the  kings  of  Man,  and  of  his  deemster, 
was  a  small  slate,  on  which  their  initials  were  inscribed,  and  it  was  a 
penalty  of  £3  to  falsify  it.  These  simple  warrants  were  only  prohibited 
in  1763.  When  a  person  was  murdered,  an  arrow  was  sent  to  assemble 
a  Ting.  In  Ireland,  when  any  one  was  wronged,  he  sat  on  an  ox's  hide 
in  a  public  thoroughfare.  All  went  armed  to  these  meetings,  and  within 
the  limits  of  the  ting  no  one  was  admitted  without  permission,  the  defend- 
ants in  a  trial  being  obliged  to  stand  extra  circum.*  In  Ireland,  the 
moothills  are  called  raths,  and  sometimes  mota.  In  Scotland  they  are 
usually  on  the  margin  of  a  river,  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  a  reli- 
gious edifice,  forming  an  interesting  object  in  the  landscape.  The  one 
here  represented  is  situated  close  to  the  ancient  site  of  the  church  of 
Inverury,  in  Aberdeenshire,  and  is  denominated  the  Bass,  probably  from 
bas,  death  or  judgment.! 

*  Dr.  Hibbert,  in  Trans,  of  Society  of  Ant.  of  Scotland. 

t  See  Sir  J.  Munro,  of  Foulis,  on  the  Hills  of  Dunipace.    Trans,  ut  sup. 


19 


146 


COMPENSATION  FOR  CRIMES. 


The  Celtic  laws  were  remarkable  for  favoring  an  equality  of  right,  and 
the  state  of  civilisation  was  strongly  conducive  to  the  preservation  of  a 
community  of  property  and  labor.  Agriculture  was  pursued  by  the  assist- 
ance of  a  whole  tribe,  and  every  other  occupation  of  general  importance 
was  executed  in  a  similar  manner;  the  labor  of  every  individual  being 
given  to  a  work  of  which  all  received  the  benefit.  In  private  afl^airs  this 
principle  was  not  overlooked.  Among  other  instances,  by  the  Manx 
law,  any  one  in  want  of  stone  or  lime  may  dig  in  his  neighbor's  land  foi 
it,  paying  only  a  reasonable  satisfaction  for  breaking  the  ground.  In 
the  Western  Isles,  all  fishing-lines  were  required  to  be  of  an  equal 
length,  to  prevent  any  thing  like  an  unfair  advantage.* 

Among  the  Celtse  almost  every  crime  was  expiated  by  a  payment, 
made  either  to  the  party  injured  or  to  the  chief.  Tacitus  found  it  "  a 
temper  wholesome  to  the  commonwealth,  that  homicide  and  lighter  trans- 
gressions were  settled  by  the  payment  of  horses  or  cattle,  part  to  the 
king  or  community,  part  to  him  or  his  friends  who  had  been  wronged." 
The  Germans  hung  traitors  and  deserters  on  trees;  cowards,  sluggards, 
and  the  depraved,  were  smothered  under  hurdles  in  mud  and  bogs,  to  show 
thereby  that  glaring  iniquities  ought  to  be  punished  openly;  effeminacy, 
and  those  crimes  which  are  less  obvious,  but  destructive  to  morality, 
and  hurtful  to  the  state,  ought  to  be  removed  from  sight  and  from  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

The  law  of  Scotland  allowed  this  mode  of  compensation  for  crime  in 
most  cases,  the  fine  or  mulc.t  being  termed  Eric,  a  reparation.  Accord- 
ing to  O'Conner,  this  law  was  first  promulgated  in  Ireland,  anno  164,  by 
which,  says  Dr.  Warner,  the  Irish  were  brought  to  more  humanity, 
honesty,  and  good  manners,  than  had  ever  been  before  known.  In  his 
memoirs  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  he  continues,  "we  too  far  infringe  on 
God's  commands,  by  taking  away  the  lives  of  men  for  theft  and  robbery. 
It  is  not  only  a  pernicious  error, — for  extreme  justice  is  extreme  injury, 
— but  a  national  abomination.  The  wilfulness  of  the  crime  is  no  sort  of 
excuse  for  making  the  punishment  far  exceed  the  heinousness  of  the 
transgression."  Roderick,  the  last  king,  exacted  3600  cows  as  an  eric 
for  the  slaughter  of  Murcertach  O'Brian,  King  of  Munster,  in  1168. f 


*  Martin. 


t  O'Conner's  Diss. 


GAELIC  LAW  TERMS. 


147 


When  the  Lord-Deputy  told  Mac  Guire  that  he  wass  to  send  a  sheriff 
into  Fermanagh,  lately  made  a  county,  "  he  shall  be  welcome,"  said  the 
chief,  *'  but  let  me  know  his  eric,  that  if  he  lose  his  head  I  may  put  it  on 
the  country."  * 

Cro,  a  ransom,  by  metonymy,  signified  both  blood  and  death.  The 
cro  of  a  villain  was  16  cows,  of  an  earl's  son,  or  thane,  100,  of  an  earl 
140,  and  that  of  the  king  of  Scots  was  1000  cows.|  Asythments  in 
Scotland  were  anciently  paid  in  cattle,  and  the  terms  prove  that  the  law 
originated  in  pastoral  society. J 

Kelchy  or  Kelchyn,  "  ane  penalty  enjoined  to  a  man  who  confesses 
his  fault,"  is  from  the  Gaelic  gial,  a  pledge,  cine,  kindred,  or,  perhaps, 
cean,  head,  the  price  of  one,  or  a  fine  for  manslaughter.  An  earl  paid 
for  this  66 1  cows,  his  son,  or  a  thane,  44  cows,  twenty-one  pence  and  § 
of  a  bodle.^  This  fine  belonged  to  the  kinsman  of  the  person  slain;  but 
if  the  wife  of  a  rustic  was  killed,  the  lord  had  the  kelchyn,  and  the  pa- 
rents the  cro  and  the  calpes. 

Enach  is  a  bounty,  and  sometimes  means  a  ransom. 

Calmes,  according  to  Dr.  Mac  Pherson,  comes  from  gial,  a  pledge, 
and  meas,  an  estimate;  but  it  seems,  rather,  caelmeas,  the  price  of  a  gael. 

The  Calpich  was  a  payment  made  to  the  chief,  and  is  derived  from 
calpa,  a  cow,  in  many  cases  the  only  article  that  could  be  given.  The 
Irish  revenue  was  always  paid  in  cattle,  and  in  Scotland  it  was  the  same, 
even  in  the  time  of  Bruce. ||  Martin  says  that  a  tenant  was  bound  to 
make  payment  whether  he  resided  on  the  estate  or  not. 

Cane  signifies  rent,  and  cean-mhath,  or  cunveth,  was  a  payment  of 
first  fruits;  not,  however,  peculiar  to  the  clergy,  for  in  1186  it  was 
awarded  by  a  jury  to  the  king,  out  of  Galloway. IT  Cane  duties  are,  to 
this  day,  exacted  on  many  farms.  The  "Mails"  of  Scotish  law  is  an- 
other Celtic  term,  and  signifies  rent,  or  tribute. 

The  usual  services  are  labor  in  seed  time,  hay  and  corn  harvest,  and 
the  "  casting  and  leading"  of  peats,  or  turf,  certain  quantities  of  spin- 
ning, payment  of  lambs,  fowls,  eggs,  butter,  &c.  &cc.  A  laird  in  north 
Knapdale  had  a  servitude  of  a  night's  lodging  on  one  of  his  vassals,  and 
in  the  proof  taken  of  the  value  of  his  estate,  there  occurs  "Item,  for 
cuidoich  20s.** 

A  tenant  in  Caithness  spun  a  certain  quantity  of  woollen  yarn,  and  so 
much  of  lint,  paid  a  quantity  of  oats  to  feed  the  laird's  horses:  trout,  if 
near  a  river  or  lake;  and,  if  in  the  vicinity  of  a  wood,  a  certain  number 
of  nasks,  i.  e.  binders  of  birch,  to  secure  the  laird's  cows. 

In  Man,  the  swine  of  felons  belonged  to  the  king,  the  goats  to  the 
queen."!*! 

*  State  of  Ireland,  1673.  t  Regiam  Majestatem. 

t  In  all  Gaelic  dialects  are  terms  of  a  similar  signification. 
§  Skene's  Auld  Laws  of  Scotland.  ||  Caledonia. 

V  Regiam.  Maj.  *^  Agric.  of  Argyle.  tt  Sacheverel. 


148  STATE  OF  THE  FEMALES  IN  CELTIC  SOCIETY 


According  to  Diodorus,  the  Celts  impaled  on  stakes  and  turned  on 
lofty  piles  those  who  were  guilty  of  any  great  crime,  after  a  close  im- 
prisonment of  five  years;  and  in  like  manner  he  says  they  used  their 
captives,  some  cutting  the  throats,  burning  or  otherwise  destroying  both 
men  and  beasts.  Among  the  ancient  Caledonians,  malefactors  who  were 
sentenced  to  death  were  burnt  between  two  fires,  from  whence  is  deriv- 
ed the  saying,  "  edir  da  teine  Bheil,"  he  is  between  the  two  flames  of 
Bel.  The  Breith-a-nuas,  still  used  for  a  judge's  decision,  points  to  the 
era  of  Druidism. 

The  sacrifice  of  captives,  which  was  considered,  in  certain  cases,  ne- 
cessary for  propitiating  the  deity,  may  be  here  noticed.  The  Celts  were 
naturally  humane,  and  willingly  acknowledged  bravery  in -an  enemy;  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Cimbri,  who  released  a  part  of  the  Roman  army  when 
captured,  from  admiration  of  their  courage;  but  they  also,  at  times, 
committed  great  atrocities.  A  general,  being  returned  from  the  pursuit 
of  an  enemy,  picked  out  from  among  the  captives  the  choicest  and 
strongest  young  men,  and  sacrificed  them  to  the  gods:  the  rest  he  shot 
to  death  with  darts,  most  of  whom  he  had  long  known,  but  former  friend- 
ship was  no  argument  to  spare  a  man  of  them.*  This  severity  was, 
•however,  unusual,  for  they  appear  to  have  generally  behaved  with  mod- 
eration when  victorious.  When  they  had  slain  their  enemy,  we  are  told, 
they  hung  his  head  about  the  necks  of  their  horses,  and  delivered  the 
spoils,  besmeared  with  blood,  to  their  servants,  to  be  carried  before  in 
triumph,  themselves  following  and  chanting  the  poean  of  victory. 

The  state  of  Celtic  society  may  be  farther  elucidated  by  viewing  the 
condition  of  the  females,  for  civilisation  is  marked  by  the  station  which 
women  hold  in  society.  Among  savages,  the  intercourse  between  the 
sexes  is  regulated  by  no  principles  of  morality,  and  the  females  are  al- 
ways degraded.  Refined  nations  treat  them  with  the  nicest  honor  and 
most  punctilious  respect. f 

Caesar  has,  in  his  fifth  book,  left  a  record  which  is  extremely  unfavor- 
able to  the  Gaulish  and  British  character.  The  former  are  said  to  have 
despised  their  females,  and  the  latter  are  represented  as  indulging  in  a 
community  of  wives.  Sir  William  Temple  gives  specious  reasons  for 
the  existence  of  this  barbarous  and  disgusting  practice:  Drs.  Henry, 
Mac  Pherson,  and  others,  have  taken  much  pains  to  vindicate  our  an- 
cestors from  an  imputation  so  injurious  and  so  incredible.  That  such  a 
custom  did  exist,  is  extremely  doubtful;  but  under  "Marriage"  the 
subject  will  be  resumed  and  more  fully  investigated. 

Tacitus  does  not  countenance  the  reproach  of  Ca3sar,  and  the  charge 
of  immorality  brought  against  the  inhabitants  of  the  continent  has  been 
repelled  by  Gibbon,  with  forcible  arguments.  The  Celts  allowed  their 
wives  to  assist  in  councils  and  in  settling  controversies  with  their  allies, 
submitting,  with  suitable  deference,  to  their  just  decisions. 


*  Diod.  Fragm.  xxvi.  p.  65. 


t  See  Millar's  Distinction  of  Ranks. 


FINES  EXIGIBLE  ON  MARRIAGE 


149 


The  influence  of  the  sex,  and  the  high  respect  in  which  they  were 
held,  are  acknowledged  proofs  of  polished  manners,  and  are  most  re- 
markable in  the  age  of  chivalry.  This  age  continued  among  the  Gael 
while  their  primitive  institutions  remained  entire.  There  is  no  country 
in  Europe,  where  women  are  more  esteemed  than  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland:  "  an  unfaithful,  unkind,  or  even  careless  husband  is  there 
looked  upon  as  a  monster."* 

The  Celts  are  said  to  have  had  power  of  life  and  death  over  their  wives 
and  children;  and  when  a  husband,  in  a  respectable  family,  died,  his  rela- 
tions held  an  inquest,  and  strictly  interrogated  the  widow.  If  she  were 
found  guilty  of  having  been  accessory  to  his  death,  she  was  executed 
with  fire  and  torments. | 

The  Germans  cut  off  the  hair  of  an  adulteress,  and,  in  the  presence 
of  her  kindred,  expelled  her  naked,  pursuing  her,  with  stripes,  through 
the  village;  for  no  pardon  was  ever  granted  to  a  woman  who  had  prosti- 
tuted herself  "However  beautiful  she  be,"  says  Tacitus,  "however 
young,  however  abounding  in  wealth,  a  husband  she  can  never  find.' 

By  the  Welsh  laws,  a  man  was  not  allowed  to  beat  his  wife,  but  for 
three  causes:  for  wishing  disgrace  to  his  beard,  attempting  to  murder 
him,  and  for  adultery. 

The  barbarity  of  the  Scots  has  been  inferred  from  the  existence  of  the 
merched  mulierum,  a  custom  that  has  been  understood  to  mean  the  right 
of  the  lord  to  the  first  night  of  a  newly  married  vassal's  wife.  Much 
has  been  written  on  this  abstruse  term,{  and  many  etymologies  have  been 
given  in  proof  of  the  revolting  custom.  Its  import  is  clearly  the  fine 
that  was  paid  for  liberty  to  marry ;  which  was  exacted  in  Scotland  within 
these  200  years.  A  superior  could  demand  a  sum,  as  marriage  right, 
from  a  male  as  well  as  female  heir,^  and  women  were  entitled  to  receive 
it.  The  merched  for  an  earl's  daughter  was  twelve  cows,  the  queen 
having  the  perquisites,  and  for  a  thane's,  one  cow.  Boece  says  it  was  a 
silver  mark;  Buchannan  the  half  of  one. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  for  us  to  conceive  that  a  custom  so  repugnant  to 
the  natural  feelings  of  mankind,  could  exist  in  any  society  at  all  remov- 
ed from  the  lowest  barbarity.  Marriage  altered  the  state  of  the  parties, 
and  their  relation  to  the  chief.  Neither  widow  nor  single  person  was 
permitted  to  marry  without  consent  of  her  superior,  and  the  highest  of 
the  nobles  were  not  exempted  from  the  fine. 

The  Scots  are  characterized  as  very  litigious,  contending  strenuously 
for  what  they  consider  a  right,  although  it  may  be  of  no  advantage; — 
like  a  substantial  farmer,  well  known  in  Edinburgh,  who  utterly  ruined 
himself  in  prosecuting  his  claim  to  the  site  of  a  dunghill;  but  they  ap- 

*  Jamieson's  Notes  on  Birt's  Letters,  ii.  p.  46.  t  Caesar,  vi.  17. 

X  See  an  Essay  by  Lord  Hailes.    Whittaker's  Hist,  of  Manchester,  an  excellent  pa- 
per, by  Mr.  Anderson,  W.  S.  in  the  Trans,  of  Scot's  Ant.  &c. 
§  Letter  from  a  Gentleman  in  Scotland,  1746. 


150  FINES  EXIGIBLE  ON  MARRIAGE. 

pear  formerly  to  have  adopted  a  summary  mode  of  settling  disputes.  Sir 
Anthony  Weldon  thought,  in  the  time  of  King  James,  that  "their 
swords  were  their  judges,  by  reason  whereof  they  had  but  few  lawyers, 
and  those  not  very  rich." 


CHAPTER  VI. 


ON  THE  DRESS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  CELTS,  AND  COSTUME  OF 
THE  PRESENT  GAEL. 

Savages  in  most  countries  have  been  found  to  paint  their  naked  bodies, 
both  for  ornament,  and  with  a  view  to  inspire  their  enemies  with  terror. 
Before  they  have  learned  to  cover  their  persons  with  any  material,  this 
may  be  considered  their  dress;  but  long  after  they  have  adopted  partial 
clothing  they  continue,  from  attachment  to  ancient  custom,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  distinction,  to  stain,  with  particular  colors  and  symbols,  those 
parts  of  the  body  that  remain  uncovered. 

Allied  to  the  custom  of  painting,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  them- 
selves terrible  to  their  enemies,  is  the  barbarous  practice  of  besmearing 
the  face  with  the  blood  of  those  who  were  slain.  The  Irish,  we  learn 
from  Solinus,  were  accustomed  to  augment  their  fierceness  of  visage  by 
this  method,  and,  according  to  Spenser,  the  custom  had  not  been  entire- 
ly dropped  in  his  time.  The  idea  of  filling  an  enemy  with  dread  by 
personal  appearance,  is  not  a  bad  conception;  for,  as  Tacitus  remarks, 
on  the  savage  figure  of  the  Germans,  the  eyes  of  men  are  first  overcome 
in  battle.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  intimidation  that  the  ancient  nations 
stained  their  bodies,  cherished  their  hair,  carried  strange  crests  or  hel- 
mets, and  wore  peculiar  apparel;  and  from  this  practice  has  probably 
originated  the  military  costumes  of  the  present  day.  The  British  tribes 
were  remarkable  for  the  practice  of  painting  their  bodies;  but  it  is  not 
a  little  singular  that  no  positive  authority  appears  for  this  mode  of  dec- 


152 


MANNER  OF  PAINTING  THE  BODY. 


oration  among  the  Gauls  of  the  continent.  Except  a  fragment  of  a 
statue,  supposed  to  be  a  GalHc  Mercury,  discovered  at  Framont,  that 
prolific  field  for  antiquarian  research,  and  here  represented,  I  have  not 
met  with  any  sculpture  to  indicate  the  prevalence  of  this  custom.* 


Pelloutier  thinks  that  Tacitus  alludes  to  the  practice  among  the  Iberi- 
ans;! ^6  plainly  describes  the  Arrians  of  Germany  as  tincta  corpora. 
The  Budini,  a  Getic  people,  painted  their  bodies  blue  and  red; J  and 
Virgil  describes  all  the  Geloni,  or  Getie,  as  picti.^  The  Daci  and  Sar- 
matse  delineated  various  characters  or  figures  on  their  bodies,  and  the 
women  stained  their  faces  with  the  juice  of  various  herbs. ||  The  Thra- 
cians  also,  especially  the  ladies,  painted  their  skins. IF  The  Agathyrsi, 
a  Scythic  nation,  who  are  placed  in  Scandinavia  by  Jornandes,  and  on 
the  Sinus  Codanus  by  Rudbeck,  painted  their  bodies  with  blue  marks, 
the  nobles  being  distinguished  by  a  great  number  of  these  spots  or  fig- 
ures.** 

Plmy  tells  us,  the  glastum,  with  which  the  Britons  dyed  their  bodies, 
was  found  in  Gaul,  but  does  not  say  the  inhabitants  made  a  similar  use 
of  it.  The  inference  is  that  they  did,  but  we  have  no  express  authority 
for  the  supposition;  from  which  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  thought,  that  as  the 
painting  could  not  have  been  derived  from  Gaul,  it  originated  among  the 
Caledonians.  The  Picts,  by  popular  tradition,  took  their  name  from  this 
practice;  and  their  chronicle  and  Isodore  agree  in  saying,  that  the  Scoti 
became  Picti  from  this  circumstance. 

All  the  Britons,  Ctesar  says,  painted  with  woad,  and  described  various 
figures  on  their  bodies.  These  consisted  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  other 
planets,  animals,  &c.  The  women  dyed  their  whole  bodies  with  this 
vegetable,  the  married  and  young  equally,  and  they  appeared  so  orna- 
mented at  sacrifices  and  other  solemnities  quite  naked. "ff  Claudian 
seems  to  describe  Britannia  as  painted  in  the  cheeks. 

The  stains  were  impressed  in  youth;  for  it  was  a  sort  of  tattooing, 
similar  to  what  is  performed  on  the  Indians,  and  for  this  purpose  certain 
iron  instruments  were  used.  The  Geloni  marked  themselves  with  tools 
of  this  metal, JJ  and  it  was  by  a  similar  process  that  the  Picts  and  other 
inhabitants  of  Britain  stained  or  tinctured  their  bodies. §^    The  British 

*  Montfaucon's  Antiquities  expliques.  t  ii.  7.  p.  129.  ed.  1770. 

t  Herodotus,  iv.  §  Georgics,  ii.  115. 

II  Pliny,  xxii.  1.  '  TT  Dio  Chrysostom. 

**  Amm.  Mar.  xxxi.    Solinug.  c.  15.  Virgil.  tt  Pliny,  xxii.  1. 

tt  Virgil.  §§  Claudian  de  Bello  Getica 


FIRST  ARTICLES  OF  DRESS. 


159 


youth,  says  Solinus,  were  "marked  with  the  figures  of  different  animals 
by  nice  incisions,  and  there  was  nothing  which  they  bore  with  more  for- 
titude than  the  operation,  by  which  their  Hmbs  received  a  deep  coloring 
in  durable  scars."  Isodore  says,  the  bodies  of  the  Picts  were  punctured 
with  a  sharp  instrument,  and  his  expression  "  stigmata  Britonum  "  seems 
to  imply  a  deeper  incision  than  other  nations  made.* 

The  marks  produced  by  this  operation  generally  appear  blue,  when 
the  matter  applied  is  not  exactly  of  that  color,  as  may  be  observed  on 
the  hands  and  arms  of  seamen  and  others,  from  which  it  may  be  con- 
cluded that  the  ancient  Britons  did  not  confine  themselves  to  the  use  of 
woad.  Isodore,  who  describes  the  Goths  as  using  red,  says,  the  Picts 
colored  themselves  with  the  juice  of  green  grass;!  Ovid  terms  the 
Britons  "  Virides."  Martial  calls  them  blue,  and  the  expression  "cceru- 
leas  scuta  Brigantes,"J  is  applied  to  the  personal  appearance  of  that  na- 
tion. Herodian  seems  to  represent  the  Britons  as  painted  with  various 
colors,  "  notant  corpora  pictura  varia  et  omnifariam  formis  animalium,"^ 
which  is  translated  by  several  authors  as  meaning  paintings  of  different 
colors,  and  is  applied  to  the  Caledonians.  Maule  says,  that  Argento- 
coxus,  or  rather  Argachocoxus,  a  celebrated  chief  of  the  Caledonian 
Picts,  derived  his  name  from  the  ancient  word  Coch,  or  Goch,  red,  and 
that  therefore  he  was  of  the  red  clan,  as  others  might  be  of  Clan-buy, 
the  yellow  tribe,  &c.    The  conjecture  is  ingenious,  if  not  satisfactory. 

This  practice  of  staining  the  body  was  retained  by  the  Angli,  to  so 
low  a  period  as  the  Norman  conquest.  They  are  even  described  by 
William  of  Malmsbury,  as  having  their  skins  marked  with  figures. ||  The 
custom  had  before  his  time  been  very  prevalent,  but  the  attention  of  the 
clergy  was  at  last  called  to  this  relick  of  paganism;  and  the  council  of 
Cealhythe,  in  787,  denounces  those  who  used  such  ornaments,  as  moved 
"diabolico  instinctu,"  the  body  which  was  created  fair  and  comely,  be- 
ing colored  with  dirty  stains,  unprofitable  to  salvation. 

Mankind  did  not  at  first  clothe  themselves  for  the  sake  of  decency. 
Dress  is  assumed  more  from  pride  and  ostentation  among  savages,  and 
is  rendered  subservient  to  their  protection  in  war,  rather  than  adopted 
as  a  defence  from  the  severities  of  climate.  The  Greeks  and  Romans 
thought  it  no  indelicacy,  to  appear  naked  in  public.  Larcher  on  Hero- 
dotus states  a  remark  of  Plato,  that  the  Greeks  had  not  long  considered 
it  ridiculous  and  disgraceful  for  a  man  to  appear  in  a  state  of  nudity. 

In  dress,  as  before  observed,  the  chief  object  was  to  impress  the  enemy 
with  dismay,  by  producing  a  strange  and  terrific  appearance:  a  second, 
and  not  less  strong  feeling  in  decorating  the  person,  was  vanity.  Pride 
of  dress  is  found  to  influence  the  lowest  savages,  who  are,  according  to 
their  circumstances,  as  ostentatious  in  this  respect,  as  the  most  civilized 
society. 

*  Origines,  xix.  23.    Pliny  says,  some  Eastern  nations  marked  their  bodies  with  hot 

searing  irons.  t  Ap.  Maule's  History  of  the  Picts. 

t  Seneca  de  Claudio.  §  Hist.  iii. 

11  De  G.  R.  A.  L.  3,  "  picturatis  stigmatibus  cutem  insigniti." 

20 


154 


SKINS  OF  ANIMALS. 


No  race  were  more  proud  of  their  apparel  and  personal  decorations, 
than  the  ancient  Celtae,  and  their  taste  in  arraying  themselves,  with  the 
singularity  and  splendor  of  their  attire,  struck  their  enemies  with  amaze- 
ment. The  beauty  and  riches  of  the  dress  of  the  Gauls,  at  the  battle 
of  Telamon,  was  wonderful,  for  the  whole  army  shone  with  purple  silk 
and  chains,  and  bracelets  of  gold,  which  they  wore  about  their  wrists 
and  neck,*  and  the  brilliancy  of  color  in  their  sagas  were  the  admiration 
of  other  nations,  who  were  proud  to  make  a  humble  imitation  of  the 
manufacture. 

The  undressed  skins  of  animals  form  the  first  covering  of  mankind, 
and  they  continue  to  be  used  until  the  art  of  fabricating  more  suitable 
materials  is  discovered,  or  until  all  have  attained  sufficient  wealth  to 
purchase  them.  The  Greeks,  more  particularly  the  Arcadians,  were 
clothed  in  skins,  in  the  time  of  Aristodemus,!  and  the  Ligurians  contin- 
ued long  to  dress  themselves  in  the  hides  of  wild  beasts,  fastened  around 
them,  by  means  of  a  belt.J 

Tacitus  says,  the  remote  Germans  wore  the  skins  of  animals,  in  some 
cases  from  necessity,  inothers  from  choice,  and  some  of  them  they 
diversified  with  numerous  spots. §  Cossar  also  describes  the  Suevi  as 
arrayed  in  skins,  and  Virgil  says  the  Getse  made  use  of  the  same  cover- 
ing. 

According  to  Dio,  the  Caledonians  were  naked:  but,  as  Dr.  Mac 
Pherson  observes,  we  are  not  to  believe  they  were  entirely  destitute  of 
covering.  Herodian  represents  them  as  being  only  partially  clad;  and 
with  their  scanty  covering  the  expression  naked  was  not  inapplicable.  || 
At  the  period  of  Caesar's  descent,  most  of  the  inhabitants  were  clothed 
with  the  skins  of  animals, IT  but  woollen  garments  were  also  in  use.  A 
clothing  of  undressed  skins  is  easily  procured,  and  is  the  best  substitute 
for  other  materials,  in  a  poor  country,  where  manufactures  are  but  little 
known.  The  common  people  in  Germany  and  Gaul  continued  to  dress 
in  this  manner,  long  after  their  chiefs  had  adopted  garments  of  linen  and 
woollen  cloth.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Belgic 
Britons,  who  were  more  civilized  than  the  nations  of  the  interior,  were 
generally  dressed  in  woollen  garments;  but  the  use  of  this  manufacture 
was  chiefly  confined  to  the  southern  tribes,  for  it  was  only  the  principal 
persons  in  the  interior  who  had  begun  to  use  it.  We  find,  in  the  ancient 
Gaelic  poems,  the  skin  of  a  boar  as  the  dress  of  a  hero.  The  monks 
of  lona,  at  a  later  period,  dressed  in  skins,  although  they  had  linen  also, 
which  they  imported,  no  doubt,  from  the  main  land;  nay,  "in  the  book 
of  dresses,  Paris  1562,  from  which  facsimiles  are  published,"  the  High- 
landers are  said  to  be  represented  arrayed  in  sheep  skins.** 

The  ancient  Britons  had  a  sort  of  manufacture  of  the  inner  bark  of 

*  Polybius,  ii.  t  Pausanias,  iv.  11.  t  Diodorus. 
§  De  mor.  Germ.    They  also  dressed  in  the  skins  of  sea  monsters. 

II  Lib.  iii.  47.  IT  Bello  Gallico. 

*  I^etter  on  the  Highland  Dress.    Scots'  Mag.  Nov.  1798,  p.  743. 


MATTEN  AND  WOOLEN  CLOTHES. 


trees,  which  still  exists  among  the  farmers  in  Germany,  Sweden,  Den- 
mark, &c.  under  the  name  of  matten,  who  employ  it  for  agricultural 
purposes.  Mathan  in  Gaelic  is  a  twig,  or  rush,  from  which  come  the 
English  mat,  matted,  &c. 

The  first  woollen  vestment  which  we  find  used  by  the  Gauls  and  Ger- 
mans, was  a  square  blanket  thrown  over  the  naked  shoulders,  and,  from 
its  value,  worn  only  by  the  chiefs.  This  was  called  sagum,  the  same 
name  which  was  given  to  the  inartificial  cloak  which  it  had  succeeded. 
Sac,  in  Gaelic,  signifies  a  skin  or  hide.  The  Belgge  called  this  part  of 
their  dress  lene,  or  linne.  Reno,  which  Varro  says  is  Gallic,  was  a 
term  applied  to  it  by  some  Germans,  while  others  denominated  it  mas- 
truga.=**= 

The  manufacture  of  wt>ollen  cloth  must  have  existed  among  the  Celta3 
from  the  most  early  period.  They  were  particularly  ingenious  in  dying 
the  material,  and  in  its  fabrication;  and  their  perfection  in  the  art  be- 
speaks long  use  and  experience,  as  well  as  much  taste.  The  singularity 
of  the  Gaulish  habit  excited  the  astonishment  of  the  Romans:  but  al- 
though they  adopted  the  use  of  the  warm  cloth  which  the  Belgre  manu- 
factured, it  does  not  appear  that  they  ever  wore  the  showy  pattern  which 
the  Celtse  had  the  honor  to  invent.  Other  nations,  admiring  its  gaudy 
appearance,  were  induced  to  relinquish  their  own  dress  and  adopt  it  in- 
stead. The  Franks  were  so  pleased  with  the  striped  sagum  that  they 
assumed  it  in  preference  to  their  own  habit. "j*  The  Saxons,  in  like  man- 
ner, imitated  the  curious  workmanship  of  those  ingenious  people,  and 
carried  it  to  great  perfection.  The  place  where  they  worked  was  called 
"the  Tuphus  of  woulle,"  and  women  attended  to  the  manufacture. J 
The  spinners  and  weavers  in  Germany  worked  under  ground,  in  caves. ^ 

There  were  different  qualities  of  Celtic  wool.  That  of  Lusitania  and 
of  Narbonne  was  rough  and  coarse;  in  Piemont  it  was  chiefly  gray;  in 
Celtiberia  it  was  mostly  black;  and  in  Andalusia  and  Grenada  it  was 
reddish.  II 

The  Gauls  appear  to  have  made  a  sort  of  felt  without  weaving,  the 
cuttings  of  which  were  formed  into  mattrasses.  Perhaps  Strabo  alludes 
to  this  article  when  he  says  the  sagum  was  rough  outside.  When  vine- 
gar was  used  in  the  preparation  of  this,  it  resisted  the  blow  of  a  sword, 
and  was  even  some  defence  against  fire.|| 

They  shore  the  wool  close,  says  Diodorus,  and  called  their  thick  cas- 
socks, ccenas.  They  also  wore  the  sagum  thicker  than  usual  in  winter. 
The  Celtic  weavers  were,  certainly,  most  ingenious  artists,  and  produced 
work  that  astonished  other  nations,  by  its  richness  and  singularity. 

The  description  of  it  has  been  supposed  to  imply  that  the  figures  of 
flowers  were  represented  in  the  texture  of  the  cloth,  but  this  nice  and 

*  Cluverius  Germ.  Ant.  "  Saga  vulgo  Sayon  a  quo  milites  nostros  Savatos  appella- 
mus."    Pol  Virgil  de  Invent,  rerum,  1604. 

t  Favin,  also  an  author  in  Baluzii  capitularia,  ii.  741,  quoted  by  Whittaker. 
J  Fosbrooke,  in  MSS  §  Pliny.  1|  Pliny,  viii.  48. 


156 


ORIGIN  OF  TARTAN. 


difficult  operation  in  the  art  is  not  likely  to  have  been  known  in  those 
rude  ages.  It  was  much  easier  to  fall  on  the  way  of  using  alternate 
colors,  both  in  warp  and  woof,  and  thereby  produce  that  appearance 
which,  at  a  distance,  to  those  unacquainted  with  its  nature,  might  readi- 
ly be  taken  for  flowering.  Diodorus  had  no  name  for  this  manufacture, 
which  was  peculiar  to  the  Celts,  and  only  means  to  say,  as  I  apprehend, 
that  it  resembled  a  flowered  robe;  for  he  goes  on  to  describe  it  as  form- 
ed in  distinct  striped  squares.*  This  opinion  seems  confirmed  by  what 
Pliny  says  of  the  Lusitanian  manufacture,  that  the  mesh-work  of  the 
homespun  garment  gave  it  value.  The  "  scutulato  textu  "  has  been 
taken  for  round  figures,  or  lozenge-figured  damask.  The  following  note 
on  the  passage  is  more  just:  textus  virgatus  est  macularum  instar  can- 
cellatim  et  reticulatim  distinctus  Lausagias  Galli  vocant."J 

If  we  could  give  credit  to  the  few  dark  intimations  concerning  the 
Hyperborei  of  Britain,  a  proof  that  the  manufacture,  which  is  plainly 
Tartan,  existed  in  this  country,  at  a  period  long  prior  to  the  commence- 
ment of  our  credible  history,  would  be  found;  for  Abaris,  the  high  priest 
of  that  people,  wore  a  robe  which  corresponds,  from  the  description, 
exactly  to  the  Scots'  plaid. 

It  may  be  presumed,  without  insisting  on  an  authority  so  doubtful, 
the  Gallic  colonists  brought  with  them  their  national  artificers  and  man- 
ufactures; as  cloth  does  not  appear  to  have  been  an  article  of  import 
with  the  Britons,  among  whom  its  use  was  common,  at  the  era  of  the 
Roman  descent. 

The  Belgae  are  believed  to  have  introduced  the  use  of  woollen  vest- 
ments, an  opinion  which  is  founded  on  their  being  more  generally  worn 
by  those  tribes  than  the  less  polished  inhabitants  of  the  interior.  The 
skins  of  animals,  as  they  were  more  easily  procured,  appear  to  have 
formed  the  dress  of  the  common  people  throughout  the  island,  but  the 
manufacture  of  woollen  cloth  was  well  understood  at  an  early  period. 

Bondiuca  wore  a  tunic,  interwoven  with  various  colors,  over  which 
was  a  mantle  of  a  coarser  texture,  being  the  dress  which  she  wore  at  all 
times. J  Varro  says  the  JBritons  wore  a  garment  called  Guanacum, 
which  was  of  divers  colors,  woven  together  and  making  a  gaudy  show;^ 
and  Tacitus  says  the  ^stii,  a  German  nation,  wore  the  British  dress, 
which  must  have  been  the  Gallic. 

The  Saxons  continued  the  manufacture,  which  Aldhelm,  who  was 
Bishop  of  Sherborn  about  970,  describes  in  a  pleasing  manner.  Writing 
in  praise  of  virginity,  he  says,  "  it  is  not  the  web  of  one  uniform  color 
and  texture,  without  any  variety  of  figures,  that  pleases  the  eye  and 
appears  beautiful,  but  one  that  is  woven  by  shuttles,  filled  with  threads 

*  "  Ac  seu  floribus  conspersas."  saga  etiam  virgata,  crebrisque 

tesselis  florum  instar  distincta."  Pliny  says,  "  Scutulis  vestes  dividere  instituit  Gal- 
lia; "  while  he  elsewhere  describes  the  Parthians  as  weaving  letters  or  characters  in 
their  cloth.    Lib.  xiii.  ii.  t  Comment,  ad  Pliny,  in  ed.  Lugd.  1668. 

XDio.  §  Ap.  Strutt's  Chronicles,  p.  275. 


ORIGIN  OF  TARTAN. 


157 


ol'  purple  and  various  other  colors,  flying  from  side  to  side,  and  forming 
a  variety  of  figures  and  images  in  different  compartments,  with  admira- 
ble art."*  The  Saxons,  not  having  a  sufficiently  Celtic  taste,  appear 
to  have  given  up  this  manufacture. 

Cloth,  in  the  most  simple  composition,  is^  left  of  the  natural  wool, 
without  being  colored  by  any  artificial  process.  Hence  the  Celtiberians, 
in  general,  wore  black  sagas,|  the  wool  being  of  that  color.  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  says  most  of  the  Irish  were  clad  in  black,  for  the  same  rea- 
son; and  the  Loughtan  cloth  of  the  Isle  of  Man  is  made  from  the  natural 
wool  of  a  particular  breed  of  sheep,  some  of  which  are  said  still  to  exist 
in  St.  Kilda  and  other  remote  islands.  The  color  is  yellowish,  or  that  of 
an  unblanched  bitter  almond,  and  the  inhabitants  are  very  partial  to  it. J 

Throughout  Scotland,  more  particularly  in  the  North  Highlands,  the 
cloth  was  made  of  the  undyed  wool,  the  white  and  black  being  generally 
appropriated  for  blankets,  or  plaids,  and  for  the  upper  garments,  the  gray 
for  hose  and  mits  for  the  gudeman.  The  Hodden  gray  was  the  general 
attire  among  the  farmers,  as  it  still,  in  most  parts  of  the  interior  and  in 
Ireland,  continues  to  be.  Sheep  shearing  was,  perhaps,  unknown  to 
the  primitive  tribes.  The  Shetlanders  still  continue  to  tear  off  the  wool; 
a  practice  less  cruel  than  at  first  appears,  for  it  is  not  done  until  after 
the  roots  have  been  forced  out  by  the  young  fleece;  but  it  is  very  inju- 
dicious, for  much  is  naturally  cast,  and,  consequently,  lost. 

It  would  appear  that,  in  ancient  times,  the  Irish  had  garments  formed 
of  hair,  A  coat  of  unknown  texture  was  dug  from  a  bog  at  a  depth  of 
fifteen  feet;  and  in  another  place,  eleven  feet  under  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  a  body  was  found  clothed  in  a  garment  of  hair.  From  the  singu- 
larity of  its  appearance,  the  supposition  was,  that  it  had  been  fabricated 
from  that  of  the  Moosedeer.§  We  find  that  the  Irish,  in  later  periods 
than  those  to  which  the  above  discoveries  are  referable,  wore  girdles 
of  women's  hair  and  locks  of  their  lovers  ;"1I  nurses  and  children  being 
girt  with  belts  of  female  hair,  finely  plaited.  These  were  rather  orna- 
mental than  necessary  apparel,  but  we  find  Fin  Mac  Coul  was  arrayed 
in  "  hieland  pladdis  of  hair.  "IT 

Wool  is  the  material  which  the  Celta3  must  have  manufactured,  from 
the  most  remote  ages,  and  the  texture  of  the  web  must  have  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  abilities  of  the  workmen,  or  affluence  of  the  parties.  In 
1786,  there  was  found  among  other  articles,  at  a  depth  of  seventeen  feet, 
in  a  bog  in  Ireland,  a  coat  in  shape  like  a  spencer  or  jacket,  of  a  coarse 
woollen  net-work. 


*  Strutt,  ut  sup.  t  Diodorus. 

t  Histories  of  the  Isle  of  Man,  Stat.  Account,  Agric.  Rep.  &c.  The  manx  word 
Loshhyn,  signifies  burnt,  or  singed.  Lachdan,  in  Gaelic,  is  gray.  "  A  Lauchtane 
mantle  then  him  by."    The  Bruce.  §  Archseologia,  vii. 

II  Gainsford's  Glory  of  England,  1619. 

IT  Interluae  of  the  Droichis,  noticed  in  Sir  John  Sinclair's  Diss,  on  Ossian's  Poems, 
p.  xxvii. 


158 


LUATHADH,  OR  FULLING  OF  CLOTH. 


The  Highlanders  sometimes  made  their  plaids  very  fine,  but,  for  gen 
eral  wear,  they  bestowed  less  pains.*  The  cathdath,  or  cadas,  was  a 
thick  sort,  made  for  the  men,  and  intended,  as  its  name,  battle  color, 
implies,  to  be  worn  during  war.  Of  this  milled  cloth,  hose,  trews,  jacket 
and  waistcoat  were  usually  made,  but  the  plaid  and  feilebeag  were  always 
of  common  tartan.  Clodh  was  used  for  coats,  and  was  commonly  what 
is  called  hodden  gray  in  the  Lowlands,  and  lachdan  by  the  Highlanders 
Cuirtan  was  similar  to  a  common  Scot's  blanket,  but  of  finer  wool  and 
fairer  workmanship. 

The  luathadh,  or  process  of  fulHng  or  cleansing  cloth,  in  the  High 
lands,  is  conducted  in  a  singular  manner.  Six  or  eight,  sometimes  even 
fourteen,  females,  sit  down  on  each  side  of  a  long  frame  of  wattled  work, 
or  a  board  ribbed  longitudinally  for  the  purpose,  and  placed  on  the 
ground.  The  cloth  being  wet,  is  then  laid  on  it,  and  the  women,  kneel- 
ing, rub  it  with  all  their  strength,  until  their  arms  become  tired,  when 
they  sit  down  and  applying  their  bare  feet,  commence  the  waulking  in 
good  earnest,  singing  a  particular  melody,  the  notes  of  which  increase 
in  loudness,  as  the  work  proceeds.  The  following  account  of  the  man- 
ner of  preparing  the  plaids,  and  the  expense  attending  the  manufacture, 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  is  given  in  the  Agricultural  Report 
of  Caithness.  When  the  web  was  sent  home,  it  was  washed  in  warm 
water,  and,  if  it  was  necessary  to  full  it,  the  door  was  taken  off  its  hinges 
and  laid  on  the  floor,  the  web  being  then  taken  out  of  the  water  and  laid 
on  it.  Four  women,  with  bare  legs,  having  set  down  on  a  little  straw, 
at  equal  distances  on  each  side,  on  the  signal  of  a  song,  (similar  to  the 
Ran  de  Vache,  in  Switzerland,)  each  applied  the  soles  of  her  feet  to 
the  web,  and  began  pushing  and  tumbling  it  about,  until  it  was  suffi- 
ciently done,  when  it  was  stretched  out  to  dry.  Cloth,  if  good,  and  for 
sale,  fetched  Is.  per  yard,  and  tartan,  if  also  good,  and  of  fine  colors, 
Is.  or  Is,  2d,  That  industry  and  simplicity  of  life,  the  reporter  adds, 
are  now  gone. 

This  mode  of  washing  is  the  Luaghadh,  described  by  Pennant,  and  of 
which  he  has  given  a  print.  It  is  related  of  an  English  gentleman,  that 
having  accidentally  looked  into  a  cottage  where  the  females  were  so  en- 
gaged, he  hastily  retired,  reporting  that  he  had  seen  a  whole  company 
of  furious  lunatics. 

Woollen  must  have  been  at  first  woven  of  one  color,  or  an  intermixture 
of  natural  black  and  white,  so  frequently  seen  in  Scotland,  in  the  present 
day.  The  process  of  dying  increases  the  expense,  and  is  not  at  all  times 
practicable,  Buchannan  says  the  prevailing  color  in  his  time  was  brown , 
most  likely  that  above  alluded  to.  Blue  was  the  favorite  color  of  the 
painted  Britons,  from  which  Britannia  was  represented  arrayed  in  a  blue 
garment, 

Pinkerton  and  several  other  writers  of  less  note,  have  aff*ected  to 
believe,  that  tartan  was  a  recent  invention.    Its  antiquity  among  the 


*  Martin.    Gen.  Stewart. 


TARTAN  NOT  A  RECENT  INVENTION. 


159 


Celtae  is  already  proved,  and  if  it  was  a  manufacture  of  the  ancient  Brit 
ons,  there  appears  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  ever  lost  by  their  de- 
scendants. Lesly  and  Buchannan  mention  it,  as  worn  by  the  Highland- 
ers; and  an  old  chronicle  says,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Western  Isles 
delighted  "to  wear  marled  cloaths,  specially  that  have  long  stripes  of 
sundry  colours.  Their  predecessors  used  short  mantles,  or  plaids  of  di- 
vers colours,  sundry  ways  divided;  and  amongst  some  the  same  custom  is 
observed  to  this  day,  but  for  the  most  part  now  they  are  broun,  most 
near  to  the  color  of  the  hadder,  to  the  effect  when  they  lie  among  the 
hadder,  the  bright  colours  of  their  plaids  shall  not  bewray  them."  * 

"  In  Argyle  and  the  Hebudae,  before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, tartan  was  manufactured  of  one  or  two  colors  for  the  poor;  more 
varied  for  the  rich."!  Beague  describes  the  Gael  nearly  300  years  ago 
as  having  a  woollen  covering,  variously  colored.  In  the  charge  and 
discharge  of  John,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  treasurer  to  King  James  III., 
1471,  are  the  following  items: 

"  Aneelne  and  ane  halve  of  blue  Tartane  to  lyne  his  gowne  of  cloth  of  gold.  £1  10s. 
Four  elne  and  ane  halve  of  Tartane,  for  a  sparwort  aboun  his  credill,  price 

ane  elne  10s   2  5 

Halve  ane  elne  of  doble  Tartane  to  lyne  ridin  collars  to  her  lady  the  Queue, 
price  8  shillins. 

There  is  a  portrait  of  Sir  William  Wallace  at  Taymouth,  a  seat  of 
Lord  Braidalban,  where  the  patriot  is  represented  with  a  plaid  of  tartan 
fastened  on  his  breast  by  a  large  brooch.  The  authenticity  of  this  picture 
may  be  questioned,  but  it  is  possible  for  a  rude  painting  to  have  been  pre- 
served by  a  copy,  as  was  done  with  that  of  William  the  Lion  in  the  hall 
□f  the  incorporated  trades  of  Aberdeen,  which  is  known  to  have  been 
repainted  from  a  very  old  and  decayed  portrait,  upwards  of  one  hun- 
dred years  ago.  If  this,  however,  were  not  the  case  with  the  one  in 
question,  it  is  yet  of  greater  antiquity  than  the  period  assigned  by  many 
for  the  introduction  of  t^ie  manufacture.  It  must  have  been  handed 
down  from  the  ancient  tribes,  but,  from  change  of  circumstances,  the 
patterns  were  made  less  rich.  The  name  breacan,  which  the  Highland- 
ers give  to  their  upper  garment,  derived  from  breac,  chequered,  is  a 
strong  proof  of  its  antiquity. 

Achy  Edgathach,  an  Irish  legislator,  is  said  to  have  introduced  the 
Laws  of  colors  to  that  people,  which  are  represented  as  having  done 
more  towards  procuring  esteem  and  respect  than  all  the  trappings  of 
eastern  magnificence. J  The  number  of  colors  among  them  and  the 
Caledonians,  indicated  the  rank  of  the  wearer,  a  king  or  chief  having 
seven,  a  Druid  six,  and  other  nobles  four  in  their  robes.  In  later  times, 
those  who  could  afford  to  do  so,  may  have  indulged  their  taste  by  intro- 
ducing a  variety  of  rich  colors;  the  poor  were  obliged  to  make  their  cloth 
plain.    Green  and  black,  with  an  occasional  stripe  of  red,  seem  to  have 


*  Lord  Somers'  Tracts,  vol.  xiii.  t  Heron's  Hist,  of  Scotland,  v.  p.  28. 

t  Dissertations  on  the  Ancient  History  of  Ireland,  1753,  p.  124. 


160 


VARIOUS  DYES. 


predominated;  but  some  districts  have  been  distinguished  for  their  pe- 
cuHar  taste,  as  Badenoch,  where  red  tartan  was  prevalent,  and  Locha- 
ber,  where  the  patterns  were  remarkably  gaudy,  &c. 

The  Highlanders  had  neither  cochineal,  lac  dye,  foreign  woods,  nor 
other  excellent  substances  to  impart  various  tints  to  their  Breacan;  but 
their  native  hills  afforded  articles  with  which  they  had  found  the  art  of 
dying  brilliant,  permanent,  and  pleasing  colors.  Caledonia  was  indeed 
much  less  prolific  in  the  materials  for  this  purpose  than  Gaul,  where  the 
people  arrived  at  high  perfection  in  the  art.  With  the  use  of  herbs  only 
in  the  process  of  dying,  they  produced  colors  so  beautiful  as  to  excite  the 
admiration  of  the  polished  Greeks  and  Romans.  They  had  a  dye  which 
rivalled  the  Tyrian  purple.  The  hyacinth  is  said  to  have  afforded  this 
beautiful  tint;  but  the  vaccinium,  supposed  by  some  commentators  to 
have  been  a  certain  herb,  and  by  others  taken  for  the  whortle,  scotice, 
blaeberry,  is  particularly  mentioned  by  Pliny,  as  having  been  employed 
by  the  Gauls  to  produce  this  color,*  the  hyacinth,  which,  he  says,  pros- 
pered exceedingly  in  Gaul,  being  used  to  dye  red.f  These  people  also 
produced  scarlet,  violet,  and  all  sorts  of  beautiful  colors,  from  various 
plants.  The  first  was  extracted  from  the  grain  of  a  bramble  which  they 
called  us,  and  the  Greeks  denominated  coccos.J  In  Lusitania  the 
royal  scarlet  was  produced. § 

The  Gauls,  says  Pliny,  were  wiser  than  others,  for  they  did  not  en- 
danger their  lives,  and  ransack  foreign  countries  and  seas  for  articles  to 
dye  their  stuffs,  to  please  a  licentious  populace,  but,  "with  excellent 
thrift  and  good  husbandrie,  they  stood  safe  upon  the  drie  land,  and  gath- 
ered those  herbs  to  dye  such  colours  as  an  honest  minded  person  hath  no 
cause  to  blame,  nor  the  world  reason  to  cry  out  upon."|] 

The  British  Gael  were,  perhaps,  unable  to  give  those  rich  colors  to 
their  stuffs  which  appeared  in  the  manufactures  of  the  ancient  Celtic 
tribes  of  the  continent.  They  had  various  articles  which  they  employed 
successfully  in  dying  their  garments;  but  when  engaged  in  war,  they 
preferred  a  dark  pattern.  Bark  of  aller,  or  alder,  was  used  for  black, 
that  of  willow  produced  flesh  color.  Corkir,  or  crotil  geal,  a  substance 
formed  on  stone,  was  made  use  of  by  the  West  Islanders  to  dye  "a 
pretty  crimson  color,"  and  another  similar  substance  called  crotil  dubh, 
"of  a  dark  color,  only  dyes  a  philamot,"  which  is,  however,  very  per- 
manent. There  is  a  root  called  rue,  once  much  used  for  red,  but  now 
strictly  prohibited  from  being  taken  up,  as  the  sand  is  loosened,  and 
thereby  becomes  liable  to  overspread  the  land. IT  Other  vegetable  sub- 
stances were  employed  by  the  Highlanders,  who  were  able  to  produce 
finer  colors  than  is  generally  supposed.  The  Caledonian  women,  who 
"  wove  the  robe  for  their  love,"  made  it  "  like  the  bow  of  the  shower." 
General  Stewart  mentions  having  seen  specimens  of  very  old  tartan  that 

*  Pliny,  xvi.  c,  18.  t  Ibid.  xxi.  26.  +  Pausanias,  x.  3C.  Pliny. 

§  Pliny,  xxii.  ||  Ibid.  xxii.    Holland's  Transl.  1601.  p.  115. 

IF  Buchannan's  History  of  the  Western  Islands. 


CLAN  TARTANS. 


161 


retained  the  tints  in  their  original  brilliancy ;  and  a  gentleman  assured 
me  that  he  had  seen  a  garment  upwards  of  200  years  old,  the  colors  in 
which  were  still  admirable.  The  materials  for  dying  were  procured 
among  their  native  hills,  and,  like  the  Gauls,  they  did  not  seek  for  arti- 
cles produced  in  other  countries.  A  Mr.  Gordon,  of  Kirk  Michael, 
Banffshire,  about  1755,  introduced  to  notice  the  simple  process  by  which 
an  elegant  purple  can  be  obtained  from  the  crotil,  cupmoss,  or  lichen,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  cudbear,  either  from  cuid  a  bear,  the  best  part, 
or  in  allusion  to  his  own  name,  Cuthbert.  In  the  Scots'  Magazine 
of  1776,  he  published  a  certificate  from  several  dyers,  that  they  used 
it  with  much  success.  It  became  consequently  an  article  of  trade,  and 
in  1808  and  1809,  from  4  to  J6500  worth  was  gathered  off  the  rocks  in 
the  counties  of  Aberdeen  and  Banff;*  but  Mr.  Gordon  did  not  arrive 
at  so  much  perfection  in  fixing  the  color  as  many  of  his  own  country- 
women. 

"  Give  me  bullock's  blood  and  lime,"  said  a  Highlander  to  a  friend 
of  mine,  "and  I  will  produce  you  fine  colors."  Every  farmer's  good- 
wife  was  competent  to  dye  blue,  red,  green,  yellow,  black,  brown,  and 
their  compounds.  When  we  consider  the  care  with  which  the  High- 
landers arranged  and  preserved  the  patterns  of  their  different  tartans, 
and  the  pride  which  they  had  in  this  manufacture,  we  must  believe  that 
the  dyers  spared  no  pains  to  preserve  and  improve  the  excellence  of  their 
craft. 

"There  is  a  great  deal  of  ingenuity  required  in  sorting  the  colors,  so 
as  to  be  agreeable  to  the  nicest  fancy.  For  this  reason  the  women  are 
at  much  pains,  first  to  give  an  exact  pattern  of  the  plaid  upon  a  small 
rod,  having  the  number  of  every  thread  of  the  stripe  on  it."|  The  far- 
mer's wife  generally  dyed  her  own  wool,  although  there  might  be  some 
small  dye  works  in  the  neighborhood;  but  whether  she  colored  the 
materials  or  employed  others,  the  pattern  of  the  web  was  not  left  to  the 
weaver's  fancy.  He  received  his  instructions  by  means  of  a  small  stick, 
round  which  the  exact  number  of  threads  in  every  bar  was  shown,  a 
practice  in  use  to  this  very  day.  Sir  Benjamin  West  regarded  the  clan 
tartans  as  specimens  of  national  taste,  and  says  that  there  was  great  art 
displayed  in  the  composition  of  the  various  patterns,  and  in  the  combina- 
tion and  opposition  of  colors. 

The  particular  setts,  or  patterns,  of  tartan,  appropriate  to  each  clan, 
must  have  been  long  fixed.  Every  tribe  and  every  island  differed  from 
each  other  "  in  the  fancy  of  making  plaids,  as  to  the  stripes,  in  breadth 
and  colors."  J  The  breacan  of  the  Highlander  was  a  sort  of  coat  armor, 
or  tabard,  by  which  his  name  and  clan  were  at  once  recognised.  At  the 
same  time,  in  their  undress  they  indulged  their  taste  in  fancy  patterns. 
It  was  a  valuable  reward  for  good  conduct  in  youth,  to  bestow  a  plaid, 
in  which  various  colors  were  introduced,  and  it  appears  to  have  been 


*  Agric.  Rep.  for  Banffshire.  t  Martin. 

21 


t  Ibid.  p.  208. 


162 


«      CLAN  TARTANS. 


prized  by  those  of  more  advanced  years.    An  old  song  makes  a  Celt,  in 

wooing  a  Lowland  lass,  say: 

Bra'  sail  the  setts  o'  your  braid  tartans  be, 

If  ye  will  gang  to  the  north  Highlands  wi'  me." 

Tartans  may  be  divided  into  the  general  descriptions  of  green  and 
red,  where  these  colors  predominate.  In  the  five  regiments  who  still 
wear  the  kilt,  it  is  the  former.  That  of  the  42nd  is  the  plainest  and  most 
common  pattern,  and  is  often  called  the  black  watch,  from  the  old  name 
of  the  corps,  who  were  so  denominated  from  wearing  tartan  only,  the 
red  jacket  being  a  late  alteration.  The  regular  colors  are  blue,  black 
and  green,  but  a  red  stripe  in  the  middle  of  the  former  is  often  intro- 
duced. This  is  said  to  have  been  first  added  by  Lord  Murray,  who 
commanded  the  regiment,  as  the  Athol  sett,  and  to  distinguish  the 
Feilebeag,  then  introduced  from  the  old  Breacan  feile.*  It  appeared  to 
me  very  ununiform  in  this  regiment,  that  both  patterns  should  be  worn 
indifferently.  The  band  continue  to  wear  tartan  of  the  same  red  pattern 
which  formed  the  original  dress  of  the  pipers  and  drummers. 

The  78th,  or  Ross-shire  Highlanders,  wear  the  Mac  Kenzie  tartan, 
having  been  raised  from  that  clan. 

The  79th,  or  Cameron  Highlanders,  wear  their  appropriate  and  well 
composed  tartan. 

The  92nd,  or  Gordon  Highlanders,  also  wear  their  peculiar  sett, 
which  is  very  pleasing,  and  the  93rd  wear  the  Sutherland  tartan,  which 
appears  only  different  from  the  plain  sett  of  the  42nd  in  having  the  green 
and  blue  lighter,  the  former  being  shown  in  the  kilt  and  plaid. 

The  71st  regiment,  or  Mac  Kenzie  Highland  light  infantry,  when 
first  raised,  wore  their  own  clan  plaid;  the  72nd,  or  Seaforth  Highland- 
ers, being  also  a  Mac  Kenzie  regiment,  wore  the  same  tartan  and  cos- 
tume; but  the  late  Duke  of  York  taking  a  fancy  to  this  corps  after  their 
return  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  called  them  "the  Duke  of  Albany's 
own  Highlanders,"  and  gave  them  a  scarf  plaid  and  trowsers  of  the  royal 
tartan.  It  is  extraordinary  that  those  two  regiments,  the  oldest  embodied 
clan  corps,  should  wear  trowsers,  a  dress  formerly  confined  to  lame, 
sick,  or  aged  Highlanders!  It  has  been  a  source  of  great  vexation  to 
their  clan  and  country.  Assuredly,  Lord  Mac  Leod,  the  eldest  son  of 
Mac  Kenzie,  Earl  of  Cromarty,  who  raised  the  73rd,  now  the  71st,  and 
Mac  Kenzie,  Earl  of  Seaforth,  who  embodied  the  old  78th,  now  the 
72nd,  would  never  have  thought  of  an  alteration  so  unnecessary  and  so 
uncongenial  to  Celtic  feeling.  Whoever  has  the  high  honor  to  command 
the  British  army,  should  not  forget  how  strongly  the  high  minded  and 
brave  Gael  are  attached  to  their  national  costume;  and  as  these  regi- 
ments have  still  the  name  of  Highlanders,  and  are  composed  of  them,  it 
is  to  be  hoped,  their  appropriate  military  uniform  will  be  yet  restored. 

While  on  this  subject,  I  cannot  avoid  noticing  an  unaccountable  prac- 
tice in  some  Highland  regiments,  where  the  officers  seldom  appear  in 


*  Stewart's  Sketches  of  the  Highlanders. 


CLAN  TARTANS. 


163 


the  feilebeag,  except  on  field  days  and  particular  occasions'  Is  it  from 
an  idea  that  it  is  unbecoming,  or  that  the  privates  only  are  obliged  to 
wear  the  kilt?  It  is  a  strange  inconsistency,  and  a  very  unmiiitary 
custom,  for  which  I  presume  the  respective  colonels  or  adjutants  are 
answerable.  Having  some  time  since  lived  four  or  five  years  where  the 
78th  were  stationed,  I  must  exonerate  that  corps  from  the  above  reflec- 
tions, officers  and  men  being  always  dressed  in  proper  regimentals. 

His  Majesty,  and  all  the  branches  of  the  Royal  Family,  wear  the 
royal  plaid  of  the  High  Steward  of  Scotland,  as  shown  in  the  figure  of 
the  chief  of  the  clan,  and  described  in  the  table  of  tartans.  His  Royal 
Highness  the  Duke  of  Sussex  has  a  pattern,  peculiar  to  himself,  which 
is  represented  in  the  explanatory  plate.  It  is  worn  for  Inverness,  from 
which  he  has  the  title  of  Earl.  All  regular  tartans  are  made,  so  that,  in 
the  folds  of  the  kilt  and  plaid,  which  are  formed  in  what  is  called  quilled, 
or  box  plaiting,  a  particular  stripe  shall  appear.  Thus,  in  the  Gordon 
sett,  it  is  yellow,  in  the  Mac  Kenzie  white,  &c.,  and  wherever  one  of 
these  patterns  cannot  be  formed  in  this  way,  the  web  is  irregular;  and 
an  error  in  weaving  would  equally  derange  the  operation  of  making  up 
a  jacket,  which  consumes  a  considerable  quantity  of  cloth,  being  cut  on 
the  bias,  and  is  a  work  of  great  nicety  and  skill. 

The  table  given  in  the  Appendix  will  show  the  exact  pattern  of  the 
tartans  appropriate  to  the  respective  clans.  It  is  as  correct  as  the  most 
laborious  personal  investigations,  and  the  able  assistance  of  some  valued, 
friends,  conversant  on  the  subject,  could  make  it:  still  there  are  many 
clans,  especially  in  the  Lowlands,  who  have  peculiar  tartans,  that  are  - 
not  included  in  the  table. 

The  Highland  Society,  some  years  since,  undertook  the  laudable  task, 
of  collecting  specimens  of  the  various  distinguishing  tartans  of  the  Scot- 
ish  Celts,  and  succeeded  in  procuring  a  great  many  specimens.  When 
we  consider  the  severe  laws  that  were  passed,  to  restrain  the  Highland- 
ers from  wearing  cloth  of  this  manufacture,  and  the  long  period  in  which 
they  were  rigorously  enforced,  with  the  act  which  at  once  abolished  the 
system  of  clanship,  that  venerable  monument  of  the  policy  of  our  ances- 
tors, and  gave  a  deadly  blow  to  the  cherished  institutions  of  the  Gael, 
we  must  cease  to  wonder  that  so  much  is  lost  of  their  ancient  manners, 
and  feel  rather  surprised  that  so  much  has  survived  "the  abolition  of 
heritable  jurisdictions." 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  Family  tartans  are  introduced  in  the  list.  The 
investigations  of  the  Highland  Society,  the  stimulus  given  by  the  visit 
of  our  Gracious  Monarch  to  Scotland,  where  the  great  chiefs  brought 
their  followers  to  attend  him,  and  where  the  Celtic  Society,  dressed  in 
proper  costume,  formed  his  Majesty's  body  guard,  with  other  circum- 
stances which  rendered  it  necessary  for  individuals  to  appear  in  their 
peculiar  uniforms,  have  combined  to  excite  much  curiosity  among  all 
classes,  to  ascertain  the  particular  tartans  and  badges  they  were  entitled 
to  wear.    This  creditable  feeling  unfortunately  led  to  a  result  difl[erent 


164  TASTEFUL  ARRANGEMENT  OF  COLORS. 


from  what  might  have  been  expected:  fanciful  varieties  of  tartan  and 
badges  were  passed  off  as  genuine,  and  the  attempt  to  set  the  public 
right  on  these  matters  is  likely  to  meet  the  objections  of  many.  I  am, 
however,  confident,  from  the  respectability  of  my  sources  of  information, 
that  my  statements  are  the  most  correct  of  any  hitherto  published.  In 
laying  them  before  the  public,  I  claim  for  myself  an  acquittal  from  all 
prejudice  and  partiality. 

It  is  obvious  that  family  tartans  must  be,  in  a  great  measure,  depend- 
ant on  individual  taste;  for,  although  many  are,  no  doubt,  of  ancient 
origin,  they  were  not  distinctive  of  tribes.  Several,  also,  have  of  late 
adopted  particular  tartans,  while  spurious  patterns  have  been  imposed 
on  others,  as  appropriate  to  their  name.  The  difficulty  0/  compiling  a 
correct  list  must  be  allowed,  and  without  giving  all  the  varieties,  it 
would  be  unsatisfactory  and  incomplete.  As  the  author  is  preparing  a 
work  expressly,  on  tartans  and  badges,  with  illustrative  plates,  an  object, 
for  the  above  reasons,  so  very  desirable,  he  takes  this  opportunity  of  so- 
liciting information  or  patterns  from  those  noblemen  and  gentlemen  who 
may  feel  interested  in  the  subject. 

The  utility  of  these  lists  is  apparent.  Any  one  desirous  of  possessing 
the  tartan  of  his  clan,  may,  by  inspecting  the  table,  inform  himself  of  the 
exact  pattern,  and  with  this  knowledge  he  cannot  be  deceived  in  making 
a  purchase.  The  advantage  of  these  accurate  descriptions  to  the  manu- 
facturer and  dealer  is  obvious.  They  will,  by  this  guide,  be  able  to 
provide  the  true  sett  of  any  clan  tartan. 

The  word  tartan  is  derived  from  the  Gaelic  tarstin,  or  tarsuin,  across. 
A  friend  has  suggested  an  ingenious  etymology  of  cath-dath,  before 
translated  "war  color:"  it  may  very  aptly  signify  the  "  strife  of  colors," 
as  if  they  emulated  each  other  in  brilliancy.  The  French  tyretaine,  a 
sort  of  woollen  cloth,  is  certainly  of  Gallic  origin.  John  de  Meum,  the 
continuator  of  the  Romance  of  the  Rose,  mentions  scarlet  woollen  cloth 
of  tyretaine,  as  forming  part  of  women's  dress. 

This  manufacture  appears  to  be  unknown  in  France.  A  gentleman 
who  has  travelled  on  the  continent  in  all  directions,  for  some  years  past, 
declares  he  never  met  with  it  of  native  fabrication.  In  a  letter  which  I 
lately  received,,  he  thus  writes;  "  It  is  a  certain  fact  that  tartan  is  not 
manufactured  any  where,  not  even  in  England,  I  believe,  as  it  should 
be.  A  French  dealer  in  such  goods  assured  me  that,  in  France,  they 
had  never  succeeded." 

Stirling,  in  Scotland,  has  been  long  celebrated  for  its  manufacture  of 
this  cloth,  and  a  very  fine  web,  especially  of  scarlet,  which  the  High- 
landers could  not  produce  from  their  native  dye-stuffs,  was  known  as 
"Stirling  Tartan."  An  old  weaver  at  the  village  of  Bannockburn,  in 
the  vicinity,  has,  from  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  various  pat- 
terns, been  dubbed  "the  Lord  Lyon,  of  Tartan  heraldry." 

It  has  been  predicted,  that  "  the  tasteless  regularity  and  vulgar  glare" 
of  this  manufacture  would  forever  prevent  its  adoption  by  genteel  society 


COSTUME. 


165 


flow  changed  the  feeling  of  the  present  age  must  be,  when  it  is  not  only 
so  fashionable  in  the  British  islands,  but  popular  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  A  certain  writer  denounced  it  as  "most  offensive  to  the  eye.' 
Sir  Benjamin  West,  whose  opinion  is  likely  to  be  much  more  correct, 
expressed  his  admiration  of  the  fine  effect  of  the  combination  of  colors. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  illustrate  the  costume  of  the  ancient  Celtae 
satisfactorily,  without  a  series  of  figures,  for  their  dresses  seem  to  have 
varied.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  no  authentic  monument,  of  sufficient 
antiquity,  exists,  from  which  we  can  ascertain,  with  certainty,  the  cos- 
tume of  that  people.  The  Greeks  had  some  representations  of  them:  a 
picture  of  the  slaughter  of  the  Gauls  in  Mysia,  was  to  be  seen  in  the 
tower  of  the  Athenians;  and  the  Pergamenians,  who  resisted  them  in 
one  of  their  invasions,  retained  their  spoils,  and  had  pictures,  i.  e.  sculp- 
tures or  paintings  of  their  transactions  with  them.*  There  were  also 
figures  of  Gauls  at  Rome,  but  of  a  later  period;  and  probably  slaves 
were  the  models.  They  were  not  represented  from  respect,  but  shown 
in  attitudes  calculated  to  display  their  inferiority,  and  excite  contempt.^ 

There  are  no  monuments  or  statues  of  the  Gauls,  it  is  believed,  in 
existence,  of  an  age  anterior  to  their  subjugation  by  the  Romans,  a 
period  too  recent  to  illustrate  their  original  costume.  The  bas-relief  that 
forms  the  subject  of  the  vignette  to  Chapter  I.  represents  Gallic  and 
German  warriors,  from  the  columns  of  Trajan  and  Antoninus.  The  one 
at  the  commencement  of  this  Chapter  represents  a  Celtiberian,  from  the 
shield  of  Scipio,  and  a  Gallic  female,  from  a  bas-relief,  discovered  at 
Langres. 

Those  remains  that  are  with  every  probability  attributed  to  the  Celtic 
inhabitants,  are  apparently  the  figures  of  Gauls,  much  altered  by  the 
mfluence  of  their  conquerors. 

The  most  simple  dress  was  the  Sagum,  fastened  in  front,  or  on  the 
shoulder,  generally  with  a  brooch;  or,  when  the  wearer  could  find  noth- 
ing better,  a  thorn,  or  bit  of  wood,  answered  the  purpose. J  Whittaker 
says  the  Britons  fastened  it  on  both  shoulders.  All  the  Germans  wore 
this,  and  were  naked  where  it  did  not  reach. ^  It  was  also  used  by  the 
Lusitani  and  Iberi,  and  continued  very  long  to  be  a  principal  part  of  the 
dress  of  those  nations. ||  Favin,  from  the  monk  of  St.  Gall,  describes 
the  Franks  as  so  pleased  with  the  striped  sagum  of  the  Gauls,  that  they 
adopted  it  in  preference  to  their  own  long  mantle. 

The  sagum,  whether  of  simple  skin  or  coarse  woollen,  was  long  worn 
before  it  was  thought  necessary  to  provide  covering  for  other  parts  of  the 
body;  but  the  pride  of  dress,  a  strong  passion  among  the  Celts,  and  the 
occupations  of  war,  so  favorable  to  a  display  of  personal  decorations, 
soon  lead  to  the  adoption  of  more  complicated  attire. 

*  Pausanias,  i.  4. 

t  Pliny,  XXXV.  4,  who  relates  an  anecdote  of  Crassus,  connected  with  one  of  those 
pictures  in  the  Forum.  t  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ. 

§  Tac.  ut  sup.  II  Strabo. 


166 


COSTUME. 


In  later  ages,  the  Gauls  formed  a  hood  to  then*  sagum  or  cloak,  and  it 
was  named  Cucullus,  or  Bardo-cucullus,  being  worn  by  soldiers  and 
countrymen.  It  was  chiefly  used  among  the  Xantones,  and  is  to  this 
day  retained  by  the  peasants  in  some  parts  of  France.*  The  Gauls  im- 
parted their  gaudy  sagum  to  the  Franks,  and  the  Britons  communicated 
theirs  to  the  Saxons. t 

The  Carac-challamh,  according  to  Macpherson,  was  a  sort  of  upper 
garment,  which  Pinkerton  from  Dio  says  was  worn  close.  The  surname 
Caracalla  given  to  the  Roman  emperor,  was  derived  from  a  sort  of  long 
Gallic  gown.  Gallica  palla  is  used  by  Martial  for  a  man's  cassock. 
From  the  Gaelic  term  for  a  long  coat,  the  Highlanders  call  the  people  of 
the  Low  Country,  luchd  nan  cosag. 

The  military  dress  of  the  Celtae  was  adopted  more  from  ostentation 
than  as  a  means  of  defence,  for  they  disregarded  armor,  and  in  battle 
were  accustomed  to  strip  off  almost  their  whole  attire.  Diodorus  says 
they  despised  death  so  much,  that  they  fought  with  only  a  slight  covering 
around  the  loins.  At  the  battle  of  Cannge,  when  they  fought  in  this 
manner,  it  could  not  fail  to  be  *'  strange  and  terrible  to  see  them  naked 
from  the  waist."!  It  was  the  practice  of  the  Asiatic  Gauls  also  to  fight 
naked. § 

The  Irish,  according  to  Solinus,  continued  the  practice  of  divesting 
themselves  of  all  covering  in  battle;  and  Spenser,  who  says  the  mantle 
was  in  general  their  sole  garment,  observes  that  it  was  light,  and  conve- 
nient to  throw  away.  The  Scots'  Highlanders  continued  to  throw  off 
their  jackets  and  plaids,  until  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Martin  thus  describes  their  method  of  fighting.  "The  chief  of  each 
tribe,  after  the  arrows  are  spent,  advances  within  shot,  having  first  laid 
aside  the  upper  garments  and  after  one  general  discharge,  attack,  aut 
mors  eito,  aut  victoria  laeta." 

The  Tunic  was  at  first  worn  by  those  only  who  were  very  wealthy. 
It  fitted  close  to  the  body,  was  fastened  by  a  belt  round  the  middle,  and 
reached  below  the  thighs.  The  Belgians  had  it  slit,  with  sleeves  hang- 
ing from  the  shoulders  below  the  middle.  Among  the  Britons  it  was 
called  Cota,  and  was  worn  open  before,  with  sleeves  that,  in  men, 
reached  to  the  hands, ||  and  fell  as  low  as  the  knee.  The  tunic  of  Bon- 
<liuca  was  long  and  plaited.  The  Thracians,  in  Xerxes'  army,  wore  a 
vest  over  a  robe  of  various  colors. IF  The  Scythians,  from  the  sculpture 
on  the  arch  of  Theodosius,  dressed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Germans 

Those  among  the  Gauls  who  bore  honors,  according  to  Strabo,  wore  a 
vest  adorned  with  gold  and  fine  colors;  one  sort  of  which  were  called 
vCoenas.** 

A  GaiFic  monument  shows  a  figure  dressed  in  a  striped  tunic,  fastened 
with  a  belt,  and  descending  to  the  knee.tf    Some  fragments  dug  up  in 


*  Montfaucon's  Antiquite  Expliquee. 
§  Livy,  xxxviii. 

**  In  Gaelic,  cneas  is  the  waist. 


t  Whittaker.  t  Polybius,  iii. 

II  Whittaker.  IF  Herodotus,  vii.  75. 

tt  Schoepflin's  Alsatia  lUustrata. 


COSTUME. 


167 


1711,  in  the  choir  of  the  cathedral  of  Paris,  represented  six  Gauls,  all 
armed,  and  dressed  in  long  garments  with  wide  sleeves,  the  sagum  ap- 
pearing also  in  some.  The  legs  do  not  in  all  cases  appear  to  have  been 
naked:  sometimes  they  are  seen  covered  with  a  sort  of  trowsers,  even 
when  the  arms  are  bare. 

A  figure  found  after  the  great  fire  of  London,  had  the  hair  long  and 
flowing,  a  sagum  thrown  over  the  shoulders,  a  girdle  round  the  middle, 
and  the  legs  bare.* 

A  fragment  of  sculpture  dug  from  the  ruins  of  Antonine's  wall,  and 
now  preserved  at  Croy,  represents  three  figures,  which  are  in  all  proba- 
bility meant  for  Caledonians.  The  dress  is  a  strict  resemblance  to  the 
national  garb,  and  is  similar  to  that  of  the  ancient  Celts. | 

Gildas  describes  the  Scots  and  Picts  of  his  time  as  having  only  a 
piece  of  cloth  tied  round  the  loins:  and  on  the  remarkable  obelisk  at 
Forres,  in  the  county  of  Moray,  the  Scots  are  represented  in  a  tunic, 
fastened  round  the  waist. 

The  Saxons  wore  the  short  tunic,  which  they  derived  from  the  Gauls, 
who  had  a  rooted  aversion  to  the  long  mantle.  It  was  so  convenient 
where  agility  was  required,  that  it  was  worn  by  persons  of  every  degree, 
and  was  the  constant  military  habit.  It  usually  terminated  a  little  above 
the  knee,  and  was  sometimes  open  at  each  side. J  Eginhart  assures  us, 
that  Charlemagne  wore  the  short  tunic,  strictly  adhering  to  the  ancient 
manners.  It  reached  only  to  his  knees;  and  Charles  the  Bold  is  repre- 
sented in  an  ancient  MS.  with  two  seigneurs,  in  the  same  dress,  the  legs 
bare  from  the  knees,  except  the  lacing  of  the  sandals,  which  are  brought 
to  the  middle  of  the  calf,  and  a  sagum  fastened  on  the  shoulder  with  a 
button. 

The  Breacan-feile,  literally  the  chequered  covering,  is  the  original 
garb  of  the  Highlanders,  and  forms  the  chief  part  of  the  costume;  the 
other  articles,  although  equally  Celtic,  and  now  peculiar  to  Scotland, 
being  subordinate  to  this  singular  remain  of  a  most  ancient  dress. 

The  Breacan,  in  its  simple  form,  is  now  seldom  used.  It  consisted  of 
a  plain  piece  of  tartan,  two  yards  in  width  by  four  or  six  in  length.  In 
dressing,  this  was  carefully  plaited  in  the  middle,  of  a  breadth  suitable 
to  the  size  of  the  wearer,  and  sufficient  to  extend  from  one  side  around 
his  back  to  the  other,  leaving  as  much  at  each  end  as  would  cover  the 
front  of  the  body,  overlapping  each  other.  The  plaid  being  thus  pre- 
pared, was  firmly  bound  round  the  loins  with  a  leathern  belt,  in  such 
manner  that  the  lower  side  fell  down  to  the  middle  of  the  knee  joint, 
and  then,  while  there  were  the  foldings  behind,  the  cloth  was  double 
before.  The  upper  part  was  then  fastened  on  the  left  shoulder  with  a 
large  brooch  or  pin,  so  as  to  display  to  the  most  advantage  the  taste- 
fulness  of  the  arrangement,  the  two  ends  being  sometimes  sufl^ered 
to  hang  down;  but  that  on  the  right  side,  which  was  necessarily  the 


*  Pennant.  t  Archaeologia,  xxi.  p.  456. 

i  Strutt  s  Hist,  of  the  English  Dress. 


168 


COSTUME. 


longest,  was  more  usually  tucked  under  the  belt,  as  shown  in  the  figure 
of  the  Gordon  in  the  copper  plate.  In  battle,  in  travelling,  and  on  other 
occasions,  this  added  much  to  the  commodiousness  and  grace  of  the 
costume. 

From  this  description,  it  will  appear  that  the  Highlander  would  re- 
quire some  assistance  at  his  toilet  if  he  wished  to  dress  with  requisite 
precision,  but  it  was  generally  sufficient  to  spread  the  breacan  on  a  box, 
table,  over  a  chair-back,  or  otherwise,  and  when  abroad  he  spread  it  on 
a  sloping  bank  or  rock,  and,  having  the  belt  under  it,  laying  himself  on 
his  side,  and,  buckling  his  girdle,  the  object  was  accomplished.  He 
was,  however,  so  nice,  that  he  took  considerable  pains  to  arrange  the 
folds  after  it  was  put  on. 

The  cloth  that  composed  this  part  of  the  dress  was  simply  a  plaid  or 
piece  of  tartan.  When  disposed  on  the  body  as  above  described,  it  re- 
».eived,  in  the  Low  Country,  the  appropriate  appellation  of  the  belted 
plaid,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  more  usual  way  in  which  it  was  worn  by 
the  inhabitants,  who  merely  wrapped  it  over  the  left  shoulder,  having 
small  clothes  under  it. 

The  belted  plaid  was,  however,  by  no  means  unknown  as  a  dress  in 
many  parts  accounted  lowland  by  the  natives  of  higher  districts.  It 
was  peculiarly  convenient  for  pastoral  occupations,  and  was  the  common 
dress  of  the  shepherds  in  the  inland  parts  of  Aberdeen,  Banff,  and  other 
counties  north  of  the  Grampians,  until  towards  the  end  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. In  the  old  song  of  the  "  Baron  of  Braikley,"  written  in  1666, 
his  lady  tells  him  to  soothe  his  alarm,  on  being  attacked  by  the  Farqu- 
harsons,  "  they  were  only  herd  widdifu's  wi'  belted  plaids." 

This  primitive  garment  is  preserved  in  the  uniform  of  the  Highland 
regiments,  which  is  an  improvement  on  the  simplicity  of  the  original 
breacan.  Being  more  convenient,  as  well  as  better  adapted  to  the  altered 
state  of  society,  the  modern  belted  plaid  is  much  worn  by  the  present 
Highlanders.  The  difference  is  this,  that  where,  formerly,  the  lower 
and  upper  parts  of  the  garb  were  attached,  they  are  now  separated,  the 
lower  part  having  the  folds  fixed  by  sewing,  and  being  often  worn  with- 
out the  other  appendages.  The  plaid  is  fastened  round  the  body  and 
suspended  from  the  shoulder,  being,  in  like  manner,  made  up  by  the 
tailor  to  imitate  the  ancient  form.  The  loose  end  is  represented  by  a 
small  triangular  piece  of  cloth  suspended  from  the  right  side,  where  the 
end  of  the  breacan  was  tucked  under  the  belt.  When  the  Highlander 
took  the  field  during  war,  when  he  was  engaged  in  hunting,  tending  his 
flocks  in  the  mountains,  or  had  occasion  to  travel  far,  he  dressed  in  the 
feile-breacan;  when  he  remained  at  home,  he  wore  the  feile-beag,  as  the 
most  convenient. 

The  shoulder  plaid  is  worn  by  the  present  Highlanders  chiefly  for 
ornament,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  72nd  regiment,  being  too  narrow  to 
answer  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  at  first  intended.  It  is,  however, 
susceptible  of  being  thrown  into  a  very  becoming  drapery. 


COSTUME. 


169 


The  Highland  garb  worn  by  one  who  knows  how  to  dress  properly  in 
it,  is,  undoubtedly,  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  the  world.  Other 
nations  may  have  an  original  garment  resembling  the  feile-beag,  or  kilt; 
but  the  belted  plaid  is  indisputably  the  invention  of  the  Gael,  and  bears 
no  resemblance,  either  in  its  materials  or  arrangement,  to  the  habit  of 
any  other  people. 

The  ample  folds  of  the  tartan,  that  are  always  arranged  to  show  the 
characteristic  or  predominant  stripe,  and  adjusted  with  great  care,  grace- 
fully depending  from  the  shoulder,  is  a  pleasing  and  elegant  drapery, 
which  being  of  itself,  as  it  were,  the  entire  vestment,  presents  an  ensem- 
ble equally  remote  from  the  extremes  of  Asiatic  and  European  dresses. 
It  partakes  of  the  easy  flow  of  Oriental  costume,  suited  to  the  indolence 
and  effeminacy  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  East;  and,  avoiding  the  angu- 
lar formality  and  stiffness  of  European  attire,  combines  a  great  degree 
both  of  lightness  and  elegance. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  antiquity  of  the  national  garb  has  been  ques- 
tioned, and  the  right  of  the  Scots  to  claim  it  as  original  has  been  denied. 
In  this  respect,  it  has  met  no  more  favor  than  most  of  the  peculiarities 
which  distinguish  this  interesting  portion  of  the  British  empire. 

John  Pinkerton,  an  author  notorious  for  his  anti-Gaelic  spirit,  and 
whose  learning  is  sullied  by  a  rancor  of  feeling  and  heat  of  temper 
which  he,  nevertheless,  reprobates  in  others  with  intemperate  severity, 
asserts  the  antiquity  of  the  feile-beag  among  the  Highlanders  to  be  very 
questionable;  that  it  "is  not  ancient  but  singular,  and  adapted  to  their 
savage  life — was  always  unknown  among  the  Welsh  and  Irish,  and  that 
it  was  a  dress  of  the  Saxons,  who  could  not  afford  breeches,  &c."*  He 
had  before  observed,  that  "breeches  were  unknown  to  the  Celts,  from 
the  beginning  to  this  day!"| 

Many  papers  have  also  appeared  at  different  times  in  various  publica- 
tions, discussing  the  question  of  its  antiquity,  and  generally  with  a  view 
to  prove  its  late  adoption  by  the  Scots'  Highlanders.  These  communi- 
cations have,  in  many  cases,  been  answered,  sometimes  very  ably,  but 
in  many  instances  without  effect.  Appeals  to  tradition  are  not  very  con- 
vincing arguments  to  set  against  the  apparent  authority  of  historical  re- 
cord, but  the  passages  which  have  been  selected  to  show  that  the  High- 
landers did  not,  until  lately,  wear  the  dress  to  which,  from  time  imme- 
morial, we  find  them  so  much  attached,  do  not,  certainly,  bear  the  con- 
structions that  have  been  put  on  them.  The  point  is,  however,  so  unde- 
niably settled,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  lengthened  refutation 
of  those  writers,  many  of  whom  are  anonymous.  Alexander  I.  is  repre- 
sented on  his  seal,  engraved  in  Dr.  Meyrick's  superb  work,  with  the 
feile-beag  and  round  targe.  Fordun,  who  wrote  about  1350,  describes 
the  Highlanders  as  "forma  spectabilis,  sed  amictu  deformis."  Major, 
who  flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  says  "  a  medio 
crure  ad  pedem  caligas  non  habent;  chlamyde  pro  veste  superiore,"  &c. 

*  Introd.  to  the  Hist,  of  Scotland,  ii,  73,  &c. 

22 


t  Ibid.  i.  394. 


no 


COSTUME. 


Lesly  and  Buchannan  also  notice  it.  Lindsay,  of  Pitscottie,  who  wrote 
in  the  vulgar  tongue,  cannot  afford  matter  for  the  regret  which  some 
writers  have  expressed,  that  the  terms  in  the  Latin  authors  are  vague 
and  unsatisfactory.  The  other  pairt  northerne,"  says  he,  "  ar  full  of 
montaines  and  verie  rud  and  homelie  kynd  of  people  doeth  inhabite, 
which  is  called  the  Reidschankes,  or  wyld  Scottis.  They  be  cloathed  with 
ane  mantle,  with  ane  schirt,  fachioned  after  the  Irisch  manner,  going 
hair  legged  to  the  hnie.^'  * 

That  the  descriptions  of  this  costume  are  neither  very  accurate  nor 
very  plain,  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at,  when  its  essential  difl!erence 
from  other  habits  is  considered.  It  was  certainly  difficult  for  those  who 
were  unacquainted  with  its  details  to  convey  a  proper  idea  it.  The 
old  Scots  of  the  Low  Country  mentioned  it  as  "  the  Highland  weed,"| 
"a  light  dress,"  &c.;  and,  except  to  those  who  lived  near  the  hills,  or 
had  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants,  their  peculiarities  were  little  known. 
Diodorus  was  unable  to  describe  the  singular  dress  of  the  Celts,  which 
he  thought  was  formed  of  cloth,  ornamented  in  flowered  work;  and 
Beague,  in  1549,  from  a  superficial  view  of  them,  describes  the  High- 
landers as  going  almost  naked,  and  says  they  wore  painted  waistcoats!  J 

At  the  present  day,  although  it  has  recently  become  so  well  known, 
there  are  many  thousands  who  have  a  very  indefinite  idea  of  this  cos- 
tume; and  the  ignorance  of  many  who  array  themselves  in  tartan  as 
members  of  societies,  or  to  figure  at  fancy  balls,  with  the  paltry  or  ill 
adjusted  trappings  of  the  stage,  do  not  convey  the  best  idea  of  so  pic- 
turesque and  interesting  a  costume. 

In  general,  the  legs  of  the  ancient  Celtre  appear  naked  from  the  knee 
downwards.  A  figure  of  a  man,  represented  in  Montfau con's  interest- 
ing work,  has  his  tunic  falling  a  little  below  the  knees,  the  limbs  having 
no  other  covering,  and  this  appears  to  have  been  no  less  a  personage 
than  Magister  vici  sandalarius  of  Metz.  Some  of  the  Germans  and 
Daci,  represented  on  the  column  of  Trajan,  appear  in  a  sort  of  trowsers 
that  are  fastened  at  the  ancles,  and  fit  pretty  close  to  the  limbs.  They 
reach  to  the  waist,  above  which  the  figures  are  generally  naked,  except 
the  covering  of  the  sagum  that  hangs  loosely  from  the  shoulders.  It  is 
evident,  from  other  remains,  that  this  dress  was  not  uniformly  worn,  for 
we  see,  on  the  same  pillar,  &.C.  the  above  and  other  nations  indifferently 
represented  with  their  legs  covered  and  exposed. 

The  Gauls  and  Britons,  it  is  asserted,  wore  the  same  chequered  cloth 
which  composed  their  upper  garments,  loosely  wrapped  around  the  limbs, 
and  this  part  of  their  apparel  is  described  under  the  term  Braccjje,  from 
which  the  English  "  breeches  "  are  derived.  Polybius  says,  the  Boii 
and  Insubres  of  Gaul  wore  the  braccae  of  their  country;  but  Strabo  con- 
fines their  use  to  the  Belgs.    From  this  garment,  which  Tacitus  calls 

*  Chronicles  of  Scotland,  Ixxiv.  4to.  ed. 
t  Spalding's  Troubles  of  Scotland,  1645. 
t  History  of  the  Scottish  Campaigns,  ap.  Stewart's  Sketches. 


COSTUME. 


171 


"  a  barbarous  covering,"  part  of  Gaul  was  called  Braccata;  the  other, 
having  adopted  the  long  gown  of  the  Romans,  received  the  appropriate 
appellation  Togata.  Etymologists  seem  to  agree  that  this  name  was 
expressive  of  the  red  or  chequered  appearance  of  the  habit;  but  that  it 
was  similar  to  modern  trowsers,  is  not  so  satisfactorily  proved.  Dr. 
Mac  Pherson,  who  remarks  that  saga  and  bracca?  were  used  indiscrim- 
inately by  the  Romans,  says  every  Highlander  in  Britain  knows  that  the 
bracca  was  an  upper  garment  of  diverse  colors.  Brat,  in  Gaelic,  is  a 
mantle  or  covering,  and  in  some  parts  of  Scotland  it  is  used  for  clothes. 
The  Welsh,  brati,  tattered,  Camden  thinks,  is  derived  from  the  Celtic 
braccte;  but  this  does  not  favor  the  opinion  that  they  were  trowsers. 
They  were  used  by  the  Getae  and  other  Scyths,  and  Pinkerton  asserts 
that  they  were  always  the  grand  badge  of  the  Goths.  "  I  have  no  proof," 
says  Strutt,  "from  the  Anglo-Saxon  delineations,  that  the  drawers  were 
in  use  in  this  country  prior  to  the  ninth  century,  for  the  tunics  of  the 
soldiers  are  often  represented  so  short,  that  much  of  their  thighs  are  ex- 
posed to  the  sight."  Polybius  seems  to  prove  that  this  part  of  Celtic 
dress  was  not  of  the  form  usually  supposed,  when  he  says  that  the  Bo- 
lonians  and  Milanois,  in  the  battle  of  Telamon,  made  choice  of  such  as 
wore  braccge,  being  at  most  ease  in  their  dress,  to  stand  the  brunt  of  the 
action.  Wolfgang  describes  it  as  a  small  tunic,  that  was  fastened  about 
the  middle,  and  reached  to  the  knees,  a  covering  for  the  loins,  a  little 
cassock  of  various  colors,  covering  one's  nakedness.* 

Newte  says  the  name  for  breeches  in  Gaelic  is  literally  "a  lock  for 
the  posteriors."  In  Welsh,  they  are  termed  Ihoudar,  and  in  Cornish, 
lavrak.  The  common  name  in  the  Highlands  for  this  part  of  male  attire, 
is  briogas,  from  briog,  restraint.  The  English  breeches  appear  to  have 
retained  a  name,  at  first  expressive  of  the  color,  or  effect  of  the  garment 
which  covered  the  lower  part  of  the  body.  The  braccee,  or  reddish 
chequered  tunic,  was  worn  by  all  the  Celts,  and  the  breacan  is  still  the 
national  dress  of  their  descendants,  the  term  indicating  its  appearance, 
like  the  Welsh,  and  Armoric,  brech,  which  signifies  chequered. 

Pelloutier  "j"  derives  the  French  brayes  from  the  braccae,  and  says  they 
were  the  German  hosen.  Whittaker  says  brog,  or  brae,  red,  otherwise 
battais,  or  botes,  were  the  untanned  buskins  of  the  Gael  and  Cumri. 
Here  is  the  origin  of  boots,  the  prototypes  of  which  must  have  been  the 
red  covering  which  the  Celts  had  for  their  feet,  and  which  has  been  since 
supplied  by  stockings  and  shoes.J  Diodorus  says  the  Celtiberians  wore 
rough  hair  greaves  about  their  legs;  and  the  ancient  Gauls,  according 
to  Cluverius,  wore  skins  with  the  hair  outside,  tied  on  their  feet.  A 
similar  covering  was  long  worn  by  the  Highlanders  and  Scots  of  Ulster, 
from  which  they  obtained,  among  their  southern  neighbors,  the  name  of 
red  shanks:  and  although  they  have,  for  a  considerable  time,  dropped  the 

*  De  mig.  Gentium,  p.  157,  &c.  t  Vol.  ii.  p.  152. 

t  The  mullei,  anciently  worn  by  the  kings  of  Alba,  were  red,  and  reached  to  the 
middle  of  the  leg.    Rubenius  de  vet.  vest. 


172 


COSTUME. 


use  of  the  untanned  hide,  which  reached  towards  the  calf  of  the  leg,  the 
hose  supply  their  place,  and  the  favorite  color  of  these  has  always  been 
red. 

The  cuARAN  reached  higher  than  the  brog,  which  simply  covered  the 
foot,  both  being  fastened  with  laces  of  thong.  The  cuaran  was  worn  m 
Man,  and  throughout  the  whole  Highlands,  where  it  is  not  yet,  I  believe, 
entirely  disused.  Their  construction  was  simple:  an  oval  piece  of  raw 
cow  or  horse's  hide  was  drawn  neatly  round  the  foot  by  thongs  of  the 
same  material,  by  means  of  holes  in  the  margin.  The  hair  was  often 
kept  inside  for  warmth:  they  were  perfectly  flexible,  and  were  pierced 
with  small  holes,  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  the  water  received  in  cross- 
ing rivers  and  morasses  to  escape.  The  "  veteres  Brachae  Britonis 
pauperis"  is  suflliciently  expressive,  if  the  term  was  applied  to  the  cover- 
ing of  the  feet  and  legs,  as  there  is  so  much  reason  to  believe.  It  is  in 
these  days  a  common  saying,  to  imply  the  utter  uselessness  of  any  thing, 
that  it  is  not  worth  old  shoes;  and  brogs,  when  worn  out,  were  certainly 
good  for  nothing.  Perhaps  the  Romans  frequently  saw  the  cast  off 
brach£E  of  the  Gauls,  as  the  English  did  the  cuarans  of  the  Scots  when 
Douglas  evacuated  his  camp  in  1327,  leaving  upwards  of  10,000  old 
ones  behind.* 

Cluverius  says  the  Celtic  shoes  were  formed  with  a  sharp  peak,  like 
those  worn  in  the  middle  ages.|  Those  of  the  old  Highlanders  were 
made,  Martin  tells  us,  according  to  Locke's  mode,  recommended  in  his 
system  of  education.    They  were  always  made  right  and  left. 

The  Gael  began  to  improve  their  manufacture,  but,  like  their  ances- 
tors, covering  for  either  feet  or  legs  was  quite  dispensable.  At  Killi- 
cranky,  they  had  neither.  Birt  mentions  a  Laird  in  the  North,  whom  he 
once  visited,  and  found  a  well  educated  and  polite  gentleman,  who  ap- 
peared without  any  other  clothing  for  his  lower  extremities  than  what  his 
breacan  afforded.  When  the  Highland  regiments  were  embodied,  dur- 
ing the  French  and  American  wars,  hundreds  of  the  men  were  brought 
down  without  either  stockings  or  shoes,  articles  considered  so  necessary 
by  those  who  live  in  more  favored  countries.  Shoes,  all  of  one  piece 
and  neatly  stitched,  have  been  discovered  in  the  bogs  of  Ireland,  where 
they  must  have  lain  for  many  ages.  In  the  ancient  vessel  dug  from  the 
former  bed  of  the  river  Rother,  in  Kent,  shoes  of  a  single  sole,  with  no 
quarter,  were  found. 

About  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  brogs  were  made  in  the  Northern 
counties  of  Caithness,  Sutherland,  Ross,  &c.,  by  itinerant  shoemakers, 
at  two  pence  a  pair  and  victuals;  the  employer  finding  leather,  hemp 
and  rosin.  Simple  as  these  were,  it  is  acknowledged  that  the  shoes  of 
modern  times  are  not  more  durable. J  An  old  Highlander,  expatiating 
on  the  good  old  times,  told  me  that  the  last  pair  he  ever  had,  he  wore  so 

*  Froissart. 

t  Gallicse  were  a  sort  of  wooden  pattens ;  Cicero  j  or  Galoches,  Montf. 
t  Agricultural  Reports. 


COSTUME. 


173 


long,  that,  at  last,  he  actually  threw  them  away,  when  they  were  still  fit 
for  use.  Latterly,  brogs  had  a  piece  of  leather  on  the  toes,  called  frio- 
chan,  from  serving  to  protect  them  from  the  roughness  of  the  heath. 
This  was  always  cut  in  Vandyke  fashion. 

In  some  parts,  this  native  manufacture  is  given  up,  in  consequence 
of  the  decay  of  the  copse  wood,  which  afforded  the  bark  used  in  tanning 
the  leather. 

Stockings,  in  Gaelic,  Ossan,  are  said  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
Romans,  the  Celts  originally  wearihg  nothing  but  the  untanned  buskins. 
In  Montfaucon's  splendid  work,  pi.  196,  I  find  a  countryman  represented 
with  a  chequered  covering,  resembling  tartan  hose:  and  a  figure  intro- 
duced by  Wolfgang  has  a  similar  appearance. 

The  sort  of  stockings  now  generally  worn  is  represented  in  the  figure 
of  the  Gordon,  and  is  the  military  pattern;  but  the  more  ancient  resem- 
bled that  worn  by  the  Stewart,  which  is  copied  from  the  painting  of  the 
regent,  Murray,  formerly  at  Fonthill  Abbey.  Various  fancy  patterns 
are  worn  in  the  Highlands,  where  they  were  formerly  of  the  same  sett 
as  the  plaid.  They  were  not  originally  knitted,  but  formed  out  of  the 
web  with  a  considerable  degree  of  ingenuity;  those  of  the  common  men 
in  the  Highland  regiments  are  still  made  in  this  manner. 

The  GARTERS  are  now  chiefly  red,  but  the  native  Gael  continue  to 
wear  them  like  their  fathers,  striped  in  various  colors.  Among  other 
presents  given  at  Michaelmas  in  the  Island  of  Uist,  on  occasion  of 
annual  horse  racing,  "  the  women  presented  the  men  with  a  pair  of  fine 
garters  of  divers  colors."*  The  Lochaber  garters  were  fringed,  and 
when  made  of  silk  and  fine  wool  would  cost  2s.  6d.  to  Is.  Mrs.  Mac 
Hardy,  of  Laggan,  in  her  100th  year,  knit  a  pair,  which  were  presented 
to  the  Duke  of  -Gordon  by  the  celebrated  Mrs.  Grant.  They  were  for- 
merly woven  in  a  particular  sort  of  loom,  and  some  are  said  to  be  still 
manufactured  in  this  way  on  the  banks  of  Lochow. 

There  is  considerable  taste  displayed  in  tying  the  garter.  In  the  42nd 
regiment,  it  is  fastened  with  a  handsome  knot:  in  the  92nd,  this  ornament 
is  formed  like  a  rose,  by  the  needle,  and  is  attached  to  the  garter,  a 
mode  unknown  to  the  genuine  Highlanders,  who  often  showed  no  tying, 
but  even  frequently  turned  the  stocking  over  the  gartan.  The  78th,  or 
Ross-shire  Buffs,  leave  both  ends  depending  from  a  tasteful  knot.  It  is 
reckoned  a  great  insult  by  the  Gael  to  be  told  to  tie  their  garter. 

It  is  here  necessary  to  say  something  of  the  ancient  habit  of  the  Irish 
Gael,  which  has  been  described  as  a  "mantle,"  and  often  as  "trouse." 
Of  this  latter  garment  there  appears  to  be  as  little  known  as  of  the 
brachte:  it  has  been  attempted  to  identify  both  with  the  modern  trow- 
sers.  In  the  time  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  the  Irish  wore  trouse  and 
mantles,  that  formed  the  common  dress  until  the  time  of  Charles  I,  and 
continued  in  partial  use  even  later.    Solinus  says  "  they  ben  single  and. 


*  Martin's  Western  Islands  p.  80. 


174 


COSTUME. 


unseemly  of  clothing,  having  foldings  instead  of  mantles  and  cloaks."* 
In  the  time  of  Richard  II.  Froissart  describes  them  as  breechless;  "f  and, 
at  Agincourt,  Speed  says  there  were  1,600  who  were  able  men,  but 
almost  naked.  Derrick  also  speaks  of  them  as  wearing  no  breeches, 
and  describes  "  a  coat  of  strange  device," 

"  His  skirts  be  verie  shorte, 
With  pleates  set  thick  about, 
And  Irish  trouzes,  &c." 

They  were  "not  lightly  proud  of  apparel, "J  but  went  commonly  naked, 
according  to  Spenser,  or  at  least  "with  naked  sides  and  legs,"  the 
mantle  being  the  principal  covering,  and  it  was  "light  to  beare,"  and 
otherwise  an  advantageous  garment.  In  summer,  the  wearer  could  have 
it  loose:  in  winter,  he  could  wrap  it  close:  at  all  times  he  could  use  it, 
for  "  it  was  never  heavy  nor  cumbersome." — "  It  was  a  fit  house  for  an 
outlaw,  a  meet  bed  for  a  rebell,  and  an  apt  cloake  for  a  thiefe."^  My 
opinion  is,  that  the  Irish  trouse  and  mantle  were  formed  like  the  belted 
plaid  of  the  Scots'  Highlanders,  although  the  materials  were  not  the 
same  as  in  the  breacan.  We  have  seen  how  conveniently  the  plaid  can 
be  thrown  over  the  shoulders,  like  a  cloak:  the  Irish,  in  1673,  are  de- 
scribed as  being  partial  to  this  use  of  the  mantle;  |1  nay,  Spenser  says 
it  was  frequently  wrapped  over  their  left  arm,  so  closely  did  it  resemble 
the  Highland  garb. 

The  Gaelic,  triubhas,  or  triughas,  the  Irish  trius,  and  Welsh  trws, 
signify  the  vestment  which  covers  the  loins,  derived  from  the  root  trus, 
gather,  truss  or  tuck  up,  from  which  is  trusgan,  a  covering,  and  also 
those  parts  which  mankind  first  conceal.  The  breacan  was  always 
tucked  up;  but  the  term  which  was  applicable  to  it,  was  given  to  the 
trowsers  adopted  on  the  prohibition  of  the  ancient  dress. 

In  farther  proof  that  the  Irish  costume  resembled  the  belted  plaid,  it 
may  be  observed,  that  Camden  says  the  Scots  and  Irish  resembled  each 
other  in  dress  and  arms;  and  Birt,  in  describing  the  Highland  dress, 
observes  that  "it  was  thought  necessary  in  Ireland  to  suppress  that  habit 
by  act  of  Parliament,"  without  any  dissatisfaction  being  evinced  by  the 
mountaineers  in  that  country.  A  law  passed  in  the  parliament  of  1585, 
by  which  it  was  ordained  that  none  should  appear  in  that  assembly  with 
Irish  attire,  to  the  great  discontent  of  the  members.  Tirlogh  Lenogh, 
chief  Lord  of  Ulster,  begged  the  Deputy  to  allow  him  to  take  his  chap- 
lain in  the  trouse  along  the  streets  with  him,  because  he  was  laughed  at 
by  every  body  in  his  new  dress.  I  think  it  is  Chaucer  who  relates  a 
facetious  story  of  these  habiliments,  which  also  tends  to  confirm  the 
opinion  of  their  not  resembling  modern  trowsers. 

The  Irish  seem  to  have  relinquished  their  ancient  garb  with  less  reluc- 
tance than  might  have  been  expected.  The  Scots  could  not  be  induced 
to  lay  it  aside,  notwithstanding  the  enactments  against  it;  and  so  great 


*^  Trevisa's  Polychronicon,  xxxiv.  f.  34. 
t  Riche,  p.  34.  §  Spenser. 


I  Tome  X.  ICl. 

II  Present  State  of  Ireland. 


TREWS.— BONNET. 


175 


was  their  aversion  to  quit  the  dress  of  their  fathers,  that  the  law  was 
ingeniously  evaded,  or  openly  contemned.  General  Stewart  relates 
many  of  the  curious  expedients  which  were  adopted  to  comply  with  the 
order  to  wear  breeches,  and  yet  retain  the  loved  breacan.  The  law, 
however  its  infringement  might  be  overlooked,  was  imperative  against 
the  Highlander,  who  could  neither,  with  safety,  wear  his  native  cloth, 
nor  carry  his  proper  arms.  I  have  read,  in  a  Scots'  newspaper  of  1750, 
the  trial  of  a  person  for  murder,  who  was  eventually  acquitted,  as  the 
individual  he  killed  wore  a  tartan  dress!  In  1782,  this  oppressive  and 
inetfectual  law  was  modified,  inasmuch  as  the  prohibition  against  cos- 
tume was  repealed.  The  strong  attachment  of  the  Highlanders  to  the 
breacan-feile  might  be  illustrated  by  many  anecdotes.  It  served  as  a 
mark  of  distinction  from  the  people  of  the  machair,  or  plain  land,  for 
whom  they  had  no  great  affection.  An  old  farmer  in  the  Highlands  of 
Banffshire  said  he  "would  never  lippen  to  a  bodach  that  wore  the 
breeks."  When  the  Fencible  regiments  were  ordered  to  assume 
breeches,  many  of  the  soldiers  had  never  worn  such  articles  of  dress, 
and  were  consequently,  for  some  time,  extremely  awkward  in  dressing, 
which  their  displeasure  at  being  deprived  oi  their  wonted  habit  did  not 
tend  to  remove.  An  old  man  in  a  certain  corps  had  put  on  his  small 
clothes  as  Paddy  did  his  coat,  the  back  part  before.  His  officer  and 
some  of  his  companions  were  laughing  heartily  at  the  mistake,  when 
Donald,  nettled  at  their  jeers,  observed  that  he  was  indeed  ignorant  of 
such  dress,  and  never  thought  he  should  know  any  thing  of  the  unmanly 
gear;  and,  as  his  indignation  waxed  high,  "the  deevil  damn  the  loon," 
he  exclaimed,  "  that  sent  them  to  us!  " 

The  TRiuGHAs,  pronounced  trius,  are  pantaloons  and  stockings,  joined, 
and  are  either  knit  like  the  latter,  or,  according  to  the  ancient  manner, 
are  formed  of  tartan  cloth,  nicely  fitted  to  the  shape  and  fringed  down 
the  leg.  They  were  sometimes  merely  striped,  and  were  fastened  by  a 
belt  around  the  loins,  with  a  square  piece  of  cloth  hanging  down  before. 

It  required  considerable  skill  to  make  the  trius.  The  measure  was  a 
stick,  in  length  one  cubit,  divided  into  one  finger  and  a  half.  There  is 
preserved  a  Gaelic  saying  respecting  this  garment,  by  which  we  are 
given  to  understand  that  there  were  two  full  nails  to  the  small  of  the  leg, 
eleven  from  the  haunch  to  the  heel,  seven  round  the  band,  and  three  to 
the  breech,  a  measure  inapplicable  to  few  well-made  men.  The  purse 
and  other  articles  were  worn  equally  with  the  trius  as  with  the  feilebeag. 

BoiNED,  or  cappan,  was  the  Celtic  name  for  the  covering  of  the  head, 
the  materials  of  which,  among  the  most  ancient  Gauls  and  Britons,  were 
different.  We  may  presume  that  as  the  form  was  not  much  unlike  the 
present,  the  same  woollen  was  occasionally  adopted.  It  may  be  noticed 
that  Giraldus  Cambrensis  mentions  Beaver  hats,  to  which  the  inhabi- 
tants are  still  partial,  having  been  discovered  in  Cardiganshire.* 

The  round  bonnet  was,  however,  not  only  worn  by  the  Britons,  but 

'  *  Tour  in  Wales,  1775. 


17G 


BONNET. 


was  fonncrlj  used  over  almost  all  Europe;  *  the  shape,  at  least,  resem 
bling  tiiat  worn  by  the  Scots,  although  the  materials  might  have  been 
different.  It  was  either  to  encourage  the  woollen  manufacture,  or  to 
repress  extravagance  in  dress,  that  so  many  laws  have  been  passed.  In 
England,  it  was  ordained  in  1571,  that  every  person  above  seven  years 
of  age  should  wear,  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  a  cap  of  wool  knit,  thick- 
ened and  dressed  in  the  country  by  the  cappers,  under  the  penalty  of 
3s.  4d.  for  every  day's  neglect;  lords,  knights,  gentlemen  of  twenty 
marks'  land,  such  as  have  borne  offices  of  worship,  gentlewomen,  ladies 
and  maids  being  excepted.  In  1489,  the  price  of  caps  was  fixed  at  2s.  Sd. 
General  Stewart  remarks  that  the  Basques  wear  caps,  in  materials  and 
form,  exactly  like  the  Highlanders.  A  relation  of  the  , author,  who 
entered  France  with  the  British  army,  was  surprised  to  find  his  native 
bonnets  worn  by  the  peasants  inhabiting  the  Pyrenean  mountains. 

The  figure  of  St.  Andrew  in  the  sceptre  of  Scotland,  made  in  the  time 
of  James  v.,  wears  a  broad  bonnet.  This  appears  to  have  been  formerly 
the  general  headdress  in  Scotland,  the  hat  having  rapidly  come  into 
use.  In  the  agricultural  report  of  Caithness,  it  is  stated  that,  in  1793, 
eight  boxes  of  hats  only  were  imported,  but  in  1803  they  amounted  to 
fifty-four. 

The  ancient  head-piece  of  a  full  dressed  Celtic  warrior  was  a  skull- 
cap; from  the  minstrel  Harry,  we  find  that  Wallace  wore  one  within  his 
bonnet.* 

The  bonnet  is  thickened,  by  a  peculiar  process,  into  a  body  of  consid- 
erable density.  The  color  is  commonly  dark  blue,  but  it  was  formerly 
also  black,  or  gray,  and  a  narrow  stripe  of  red,  white,  or  green  was 
often  carried  round  the  lower  edge;  and  occasionally  these  were  pleas- 
ingly combined.  The  chequer  work,  worn  by  the  military,  is  now  the 
common  ornament,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  be  very  ancient.  Accord- 
ing to  General  Stewart,  it  originated  in  the  time  of  Montrose's  wars, 
and  represents  the  armorial  bearing  of  the  royal  family.  The  Stewart's 
belt,  or  fess,  is,  however,  cheeky  argent  and  azure.  The  bonnets  ter- 
minate in  a  knot,  generally  of  the  same  color,  but  often  red,  white,  or 
black.  They  are  usually  augmented  to  a  small  tuft,  and  are  sometimes 
formed  of  silk.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  some  of  the  officers,  in  the  re- 
bellion of  1745,  had  them  of  silver  and  gold  fringe.  Beautiful  substi- 
tutes for  the  old  chequer  are  now  to  be  had  of  those  who  furnish  the 
costume. 

The  inhabitants  of  Badenoch,  Strathspey,  Strathdon,  &c.  wear  the 
bonnet  cocked.  The  Strathdee  men  are  distinguished  by  having  it  flat, 
as  numbers  1,2,  in  the  plate. 

The  bonnet  is  cocked,  or  made  into  the  desired  shape,  by  means  of 
padding,  8lc.,  the  broad  sort  being  distended  by  a  small  hoop.  The 
Scots'  military  appear,  from  old  prints,  to  have  worn  bonnets;  but  the 


*  The  Irish  formerly  wore  a  cap  of  frieze,  called  cappeene.  The  regal  cap  was  called 
Asion.    It  is  singular  to  perceive  the  shape  of  the  modern  hat  in  many  ancient  figures 


PURSE. 


177 


present  shape  is  not  ancient.  Before  the  black  plumes  weie  introduced, 
bear's  skin  was  used,  as  in  the  caps  of  modern  grenadiers.  The  bonnet 
was  bound  with  leather,  by  the  common  sort;  with  black  ribbon  and 
velvet,  by  others;  and  a  cockade  of  the  same  materials,  with  a  pin,  in 
some  cases  of  silver,  but  usually  formed  from  the  shank  bone  of  a  deer's 
leg,  ornamented  with  the  person's  crest,  motto,  and  initials,  and  called 
dealg,  secured  the  badge  and  the  eagles'  feathers. 

The  Highlanders  bestowed  much  of  their  usual  attention  to  dress,  in 
making  up  the  bonaid,  and  took  particular  care  to  have  a  sufficient 
length  of  ribbon  to  wave  about  their  ears.  The  officers  of  the  92nd 
used,  formerly,  to  have  three  of  black  velvet,  fixed  to  the  cape  of  the 
jacket  behind,  which  had  a  pretty  effect. 

This  dress  is  said,  perhaps  untruly,  to  be  too  warm  for  the  head.  It 
has  this  convenience  in  wet  weather,  that  the  Highlander  can  take  it  ofT 
and  wring  out  th^  water. 

Kilmarnock  is  the  most  noted  mart  for  this  article,  but  "  The  bonnet 
makers  of  Dundee  "  are  celebrated  in  their  national  music.  The  central 
Highlanders  supply  themselves  in  Perth. 

The  PURSE,  sporan,  of  the  Highlanders,  like  the  other  parts  of  their 
costume,  is  not  only  useful,  but  highly  ornamental.  Anciently,  it  was 
small,  and  less  decorated  than  it  is  now  seen.  That  of  the  unfortunate 
Lord  Lovat  is  of  this  description.  The  tassels,  instead  of  the  silver  or 
other  adjuncts,  were  fixed  with  small  strips  of  leather,  neatly  and  ingeni- 
ously interwoven.  In  many  cases,  the  purse  was  formed  of  leather, 
like  a  modern  reticule,  and  appears  to  have  been  tied  in  front.  It  is 
formed  into  several  distinct  pockets,  in  which  the  Gael  carried  their 
money,  watch,  &c.,  and  sometimes  also  their  shot;  but,  anciently,  they 
bore  a  similar  wallet,  or  builg,  at  the  right  side,  for  the  latter,  or  for  a 
quantity  of  meal  or  other  provision.  This  was  termed  dorlach,  and  was 
the  knapsack  of  the  Highland  soldier;  and,  small  as  that  of  the  present 
military  is,  among  the  Gael,  it  was  still  more  portable.  "  Those  of  the 
English  who  visited  our  camp,"  says  an  author  quoted  by  Jamieson, 
"  did  gaze  with  admiration  upon  those  supple  fellows,  the  Highlanders, 
with  their  plaids,  targets,  and  dorlachs."  The  purse  admits  of  much 
ornament,  but,  according  to  my  taste,  when  too  large,  it  hides  the  beauty 
of  the  kilt.  The  village  of  Doune,  in  Perthshire,  was,  at  one  time,  cel- 
ebrated for  the  manufacture  of  purses,  which  is  now  entirely  given  up. 

The  first  covering  which  mankind  adopt  is  necessarily  loose,  and  must 
be.  fastened  round  the  body.  Dress  is,  also,  first  assumed  as  a  military 
costume;  the  belt  which  secures  the  garment  serving  to  sustain  the 
sword,  and,  from  the  primitive  fashion  of  raiment,  the  ancients  continued 
to  call  putting  on  armor,  begirding.* 

The  baldricks  of  the  Celts  received  a  large  share  of  ornament;  and 
the  Highlanders  displayed,  in  the  sword  and  dirk  belt,  as  well  as  in  that 


*  Pausanias,  ix.  17.    "  Girded  "  was  used  in  this  sense  by  the  Scots. 

23 


178 


ORNAMENTS. 


which  bound  the  female  dress,  precious  stones,  handsome  buckles 
crests,  mottoes,  devices,  and  foliage. 

The  shot-pouch  attached  to  the  belt,  which  is  around  the  middle,  is  a 
late  improvement;  and  the  eadharc  an  foudre,  or  powder  horn,  suspend- 
ed also  on  the  right  side  by  a  silver  or  other  chain,  was,  likewise,  recent- 
ly introduced. 

The  shoe  buckles  cannot  date  higher  than  their  introduction  to  Scot- 
land.   They  were  only  invented  about  1680. 

In  1673,  it  was  remarked  that  Irish  gentlemen  seldom  wore  bands,  or 
neckcloths.  These  were  unknown  to  the  old  Highlanders,  who  left  the 
neck  bare,  even  when  linen  shirts  became  a  usual  article  of  dress;  some- 
times a  black  ribbon  supplied  their  place. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  above  explained,  may  be  added  a  de- 
scription of  certain  articles  essential  to  the  dress  of  ancient  and  modern 
times,  but  more  correctly  coming  under  the  denomination  of  ornaments. 
The  Celts,  in  the  most  remote  ages,  as  we  have  seen,  evinced  their  per- 
sonal vanity  by  their  gaudy  and  costly  ornaments.  The  Gauls  had  little 
or  no  silver,  but  plenty  of  gold,  with  chains  of  which  they  loaded  them- 
selves. The  massy  torques,  of  pure  and  beaten  gold,  which  hung  around 
their  necks,  were  a  desirable  booty  to  the  avaricious  Romans;  besides 
which,  they  wore  bracelets  of  it  about  their  arms  and  wrists,  and  had 
croslets  of  gold  upon  their  breasts.*  Polybius  describes  their  whole 
army  in  Hannibal's  service,  as  shining  with  the  splendor  of  their  dress. 

A  sort  of  fine  golden  carcanets,  of  green-colored  gems,  called  by  the 
Romans  viriae,  were  properly  Celticee;  and  the  necklaces  of  gold,  called 
viriolce,  were  distinguished  as  Celtibericse.f  The  Britons  were  equally 
vain  of  their  persons,  and  studious  to  deck  themselves  in  rich  attire. 
Those  who  could  not  obtain  gold  or  silver,  imitated  their  more  fortunate 
companions  in  less  valuable  materials,  Herodian  says  the  Picts  wore 
chains  of  iron  for  ornament.  In  the  South,  the  precious  metals  were 
less  scarce.  Bondiuca  wore  a  massive  chain  of  gold  around  her  neck; 
and  a  great  number,  taken  with  the  noble  Caractacus,  were  borne  in 
procession  before  him  at  Rome.  The  Caledonians,  from  some  discove- 
ries, appear  to  have  worn  armlets.  {  These  were  often  of  massy  gold, 
in  South  Britain. 

Small  jet,  and  other  ornaments,  have  been  found  in  sepulchres 
throughout  the  Highlands;  but  it  is  impossible  to  enumerate  the  various 
articles  discovered  in  British  interments,  every  grave,  almost,  producing 
something  different  from  what  has  been  before  seen.§ 

The  dress  of  the  Celtic  women  was,  anciently,  little  different  in  form 
from  that  of  the  men.    The  tunic  was  bound  round  the  waist,  and  had 

*  Diodorus.    Polybius.  f  Pliny,  xxxiii.  3. 

I  A  barrow  opened  at  Glenholrn,  Peeblesshire.    Stat.  Acct.  iv. 

§  Those  who  are  curious  to  know  something  of  the  variety  of  ornaments  among 
these  ingenious  people,  are  referred  to  Douglas's  "  Nennia  Britannica,"  Sir  R.  Hoare's 
"  Ancient  Wiltshire,"  the  '^Transactions  of  the  Ant.  of  London  and  Scotland,"  "  Sib- 
bald's  Erud.  Ant.  Misc."  §  2,  &c. 


WOMEN'S  DRESS. 


179 


seldom  any  sleeves,  their  arms  being  left  bare,  and  their  bosoms  partly 
uncovered.  They  wore  a  sagum,  which  they  fastened,  like  the  men, 
with  a  pin  or  brooch,  as  they  did  other  parts  of  their  dress,  whence, 
Pinkerton  thinks,  may  be  derived  the  usual  perquisite  of  females,  pin 
money.  Bondiuca  wore  a  tunic  of  various  colors,  long  and  plaited;  over 
which  she  had  a  large  vest  and  thick  mantle,  which  was  the  dress  she 
wore  at  all  times. 

A  passage  in  Ossian  may  allude  to  the  introduction  of  the  Roman  toga, 
adopted  by  the  South  Britons:  of  Moina,  daughter  of  Reuthamor,  king 
of  Balclutha,  it  is  said  that  her  dress  was  not  like  that  worn  by  the  Cale- 
donians, "her  robes  were  from  the  strangers'  land."  The  females  are 
represented,  some  centuriessince,  as  wearing  sheep  skins;  but  the 
authority  for  this  is  doubtful. 

The  Irish  women  wore  a  mantle  similar  in  form  to  that  used  by  the 
men,  but  longer,  Pinkerton,  on  the  authority  of  Giraldus,  says  they  had 
little  caputii,  or  hoods  of  plaid,  and  linen  vests.  This  mantle  seems  to 
be  described,  in  1673,  as  "  a  sort  of  loose  gowns."*  Women  in  the 
Highlands,  before  marriage,  went  with  the  head  bare;  when  they  were 
privileged  to  cover  it,  they  wore  the  curch,  curaichd,  or  breid,  of  linen, 
which  was  put  over  the  head  and  fastened  under  the  chin,  falling  in  a 
tapering  form  on  the  shoulders.  A  large  lock  of  hair  hung  down  each 
side  of  the  face  to  the  bosom,  the  lower  end  being  ornamented  with  a 
knot  of  ribbons.  The  Welsh  still  wear  a  handkerchief,  fastened  in  a 
somewhat  similar  manner  to  the  Highlanders. 

The  TONXAG  is  a  small  square  of  Tartan,  or  other  woollen  stuff,  worn 
over  the  shoulders,  in  manner  of  a  mantle. 

The  AiRisAiD  was  a  peculiar  garment,  the  same  as  was  worn  by  Bon- 
diuca, and  is  mentioned  in  one  of  the  poems  of  Alexander  Mac  Donald 
as  having  been  worn  so  late  as  1740.| 

The  plaid,  which  was  usually  white,  with  a  few  stripes  of  black,  blue 
or  red,  and  made  of  sufficient  length  to  reach  from  the  neck  to  the  an- 
kles, being  nicely  plaited  all  round,  was  fastened  about  the  waist  with  a 
belt,  and  secured  on  the  breast  by  a  large  brooch.  The  belt  was  of 
leather,  and  several  pieces  of  silver  intermixed,  giving  it  the  semblance 
of  a  chain,  and,  "at  the  lower  end  was  a  piece  of  plate,  about  eight 
inches  long  and  three  broad,  curiously  engraven,  the  end  of  which  was 
ingeniously  adorned  with  fine  stones,  or  pieces  of  red  coral."  This 
singular  ornament  and  vesture  are  now  unknown. 

The  chief  oVnament  of  the  Gael,  both  of  Albin  and  Erin,  was  the 
brooch  for  fastening  the  plaid,  on  the  shoulders  of  men  and  on  the  breasts 
of  women.  It  was  formed  of  brass,  silver  or  gold,  and  adorned  with 
precious  stones,  according  to  the  fancy  or  means  of  the  wearer. 

It  was  sometimes  as  large  as  an  ordinary  sized  platter,  and  had  a 
smaller  one  within,  for  fastening  the  dress,  that  weighed  between  two 
*  Present  State  of  Ireland. 

f  Quoted  in  Mr.  Ronald  Mac  Donald's  collection  of  Gaelic  poems. 


180 


THE"  BROOCH.— WOMEN'S  DRESS. 


and  three  ounces,  and  was  ornamented  with  a  large  crystal,  or  cairngo- 
rum,  in  the  centre,  with  others  of  a  lesser  size  set  around  it.  The  whole 
was  curiously  engraved,  the  figures  being  the  well-known  tracery,  ani- 
mals, &c.  Martin  says,  he  has  seen  some  silver  buckles  worth  100  marks. 

The  one  here  represented  in  possession  of  Mr.  Donald  Currie,  is 
drawn  by  a  scale  half  the  size  of  the  original.  It  is  of  silver,  weighing 
two  ozs.  twelve  dwts.,  and  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  general  form  and 
ornaments  of  the  brooch. 


A  simple  form  of  fibula,  found  in  a  barrow  near  Canterbury,  is  shown 
at  the  end  of  this  chapter,  but  the  ancient  Britons  had  some,  very  in- 
geniously and  elaborately  constructed.  The  old  Highlanders  had  also 
brooches  of  superior  workmanship.  That  of  Bruce,  in  possession  of 
Mac  Dougal,  of  Lorn,  according  to  the  description  of  a  gentleman  who 
has  seen  it,  is  silver,  of  a  cup  form,  with  a  large  cairngorum  or  topaz  in 
the  centre.  It  was  some  time  in  the  custody  of  the  Campbells,  of  Glen- 
lyon,  who  have  another  similar  relic,  of  silver,  studded  with  pearls  and 
uncut  gems,  having  underneath  a  centre  bar  and  two  pins,  or  tongues. 
Of  this  brooch  Pennant  has  given  an  engraving. 

The  ladies,  in  those  days,  wore  sleeves  of  scarlet  cloth,  like  those  of 
the  men,  laced  with  gold  or  silver,  and  adorned  with  buttons  of  plate,  set 
with  precious  stones.  The  old  Irish  adorned  themselves  with  large  jewels. 

The  Cuirtan,  or  white  twilled  cloth,  made  from  fine  wool,  was  used 
exclusively  for  under  petticoats  and  hose,  before  the  invention  of  modern 
stockings,  and  the  industry  of  young  women  was  judged  of  by  its  fine- 
ness and  whiteness.    A  large  sort  of  hose  were  called  Ossan  preasach. 

A  favorite  pattern  of  stuff  for  female  dresses,  was  crimson  and  black, 
in  stripes  of  three  or  four  threads  in  the  woof,  the  warp  being  all  black  ; 
besides  which,  there  was  a  sort  much  worn  by  women  and  children.  It 
was  made  party-colored,  by  tying  cords  very  tight  round  the  hasps  of 
yarn,  when  undergoing  the  process  of  dying;  thus,  supposing  the  color 


SHIRTS.— LINEN. 


181 


blue,  the  spots  preserved  white  hy  the  ligatures  would  appear  irregular- 
ly throughout  the  web,  forming  a  motley  texture,  or  cloud-figured  pattern. 

The  upper  garment  of  the  females  of  former  ages,  throughout  the 
North  and  West  of  Scotland,  was  the  full  plaid,  which  usually  contained 
three  yards  in  length  and  two  in  breadth,  and  which,  in  the  Highlands, 
was  often  of  the  cuirtan,  or  white  sort,  but,  in  the  Low  Country,  was  of 
all  manner  of  showy  patterns,  either  worsted  or  silk.* 

This  garment  is  worn  over  the  head,  and  fastened  under  the  chin  with 
a  brooch  or  pin,  like  the  habit  of  certain  nuns,  or  otherwise  only  over 
the  shoulders,  as  the  state  of  the  weather  may  permit.  From  the  change 
of  manners,  the  use  of  the  plaid  is  now  almost  confined  to  the  elderly 
females,  but  was  formerly  worn  by  the  married,  whether  young  or  old. 
An  English  gentleman,  who  visited  Edinburgh  in  1598,  says,  "  the  cit- 
izens' wives,  and  women  of  the  country,  did  wear  cloaks  made  of  a  coarse 
cloth,  of  two  or  three  colors,  in  checker  work,  vulgarly  called  Ploddan."t 

In  Edinburgh,  where  Birt  says  it  was  the  undress,  and,  perhaps,  in 
other  places,  the  ladies  formerly  denoted  their  political  principles  by  the 
manner  of  wearing  their  plaids,  those  who  were  Jacobites  being  thus 
distinguished.  When  adjusted  with  a  good  air,  the  plaid  was  very  be- 
coming, the  ends  either  falling  as  low  as  the  ankle,  or  being  held  up  in 
graceful  folds;  usually  by  the  left  arm,  to  leave  the  right  at  literty,  but 
sometimes  by  both. 

Those  who  have  been  in  the  brae  country  of  Scotland,  cannot  forget 
the  picturesque  effect  of  the  congregation  of  a  kirk  on  Sunday,  loitering 
in  the  churchyard  until  the  commencement  of  worship,  or  moving  along 
the  mountain  paths,  the  men  in  their  varied  tartans  and  smartly  cocked 
bonaids,  the  married  women  in  their  gaudy  plaids  and  snow-white  mutch- 
es, or  caps,  the  girls  with  their  auburn  hair  neatly  bound  up  in  the  snood. 

The  shirts  of  the  Highlanders  were  formerly  of  woollen,  from  the  use 
of  which  rheumatism,  and  other  complaints,  were  little  known.  Although 
linen  was  not  in  very  general  use,  it  was  far  from  being  rare;  and  the 
expense  to  which  the  Gael  went  in  their  shirts  was  astonishing.  The 
Lenicroich,  or  large  shirt,  worn  by  persons  of  rank,  was  dyed  of  a  saf- 
fron color,  and  contained  twenty-four  ells.  In  Ireland,  the  natives  are 
said  to  have  required  above  thirty  yards  in  the  composition  of  this  vest- 
ment, a  fashion  so  expensive  that  a  law  was  passed  by  Henry  VIII.,  by 
which  they  were  prohibited  from  putting  more  than  seven  yards  in  it, 
under  a  severe  penalty  .J  Great  quantities  of  linen  were  formerly  made 
to  supply  the  demand  for  these  garments.  The  Lenicroich  was  fastened 
round  the  middle  by  a  belt,  and  reached  below  the  knees,  being  gathered 
into  folds,  or  pleats,  like  the  breacan,  but  was  not,  as  its  name  would 
seem  to  imply,  worn  under  other  clothing:  it  was  an  upper  garment.  It 

*  Plaids,  all  of  scarlet,  were  latterly  reckoned  most  genteel. 
+  Arnot's  Hist,  of  Edinburgh  ;  it  is  still  called  plaiding,  in  the  Low  lands. 
+  A  Description  of  Ireland,  Ley  den,  1G27,  quoted  by  Gratianus  Lucius.  Acts  of  Par 
Uament 


182 


CONVENIENCE  OF  THE  DRESS. 


would  appear  from  Spenser  that  it  was  worn  by  both  sexes,  the  women,  as 
Riche  describes  them,  wearing  deep  smock  sleeves,  like  herald  maundi- 
es. "  Linnen  shirts,"  says  Campion,  "  the  rich  doe  weare  for  wanton- 
nes  and  bravery,  with  wide  hanging  sleeves,  playted,  thirtie  yards  being 
little  enough  for  one  of  them.  They  have  now,"  he  continues,  "  left 
tlieir  saffron,  and  learne  to  wash  their  shirts  foure  or  five  times  in  a 
yeare."* 

The  Celts  had,  in  very  early  ages,  attained  celebrity  for  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  they  carried  the  growth  of  flax  and  manufacture  of  linen. 
The  Iberians  of  Tarraconia  excelled  in  its  fineness,  and  those  in  the 
army  at  Cannae  were  clad  in  shirts  of  linen,  worked  with  purple,  after 
the  manner  of  their  country. f 

The  use  of  linen  appears  to  have  been  more  common  among  the 
Gallic  and  German  females,  than  among  the  men.  Beyond  the  Rhine, 
the  females  thought  themselves  most  grand  when  dressed  in  fine  linen.J 
The  vests  of  the  German  ladies  were  embroidered  with  purple.^  Whit- 
taker  says,  the  skiurd,  or  shirt,  was  derived  from  the  Romans;  but 
surely  these  linen  vestments  were  shirts,  to  all  intents  and  purposes. 
Lein  is  the  Gaelic  for  this  part  of  apparel.  By  the  Cadurci,  Caletes, 
Rutene,  Bituriges,  Morini,  and  throughout  all  Gaul,  linen  cloth  and 
canvass  for  sails  were  manufactured. 

The  Gauls  and  Britons  pounded  the  flax,  when  spun,  in  a  stone  mor- 
tar with  water;  and,  when  woven,  it  was  beaten  upon  a  smooth  stone 
with  broad  clubs.  The  more  frequently  and  forcibly,  the  whiter  and 
softer  it  became;  and,  to  make  the  water  more  efficacious  in  cleansing, 
some  put  into  it  the  roots  of  wild  poppies  and  other  herbs.  ||  This  mode 
of  bleaching,  or  whitening  linen,  by  beating  it,  is  still  practised  in  Scot- 
land and  Ireland,  where  it  is  called  beetling,  from  the  wooden  imple- 
ment with  which  it  is  struck. 

The  Scots'  women,  both  single  and  married,  have  generally  good 
store  of  sheets  and  blankets. 

The  hardihood  of  the  Celtic  race  has  been  before  noticed.  Their 
dress  inured  them  to  the  vicissitudes  and  severity  of  the  climate.  The 
lusty  youth,  says  Marcellinus,  had  their  limbs  hardened  with  frost  and 
continual  exercise. 

Pelloutier  relates  an  anecdote  which  shows  how  little  these  people 
regarded  exposure  to  cold.  One  morning  that  the  snow  lay  deep  on  the 
ground,  one  of  their  kings,  who  was  well  clothed,  perceiving  a  man  lay- 
ing down  naked,  asked  if  he  was  not  cold  ?  "Is  your  face  cold  ^  "  replied 
he.  "No,"  said  the  king,  "  Neither,  then,"  returned  the  man,  "  do 
I  feel  cold,  for  I  am  all  face. "IT 

The  Highlanders,^  before  the  subversion  of  their  primitive  institutions, 
were  indifferent  to  the  severity  of  a  winter  night,  resting  with  content  in 

*  Hist,  of  Ireland,  1571.  f  Polybius,  iii.  t  Pliny,  xix.  1 

§  Tacitus.  II  Pliny,  xix.  xx.  2  and  3. 

IF  Tome  ii.  c.  7,  from  Lilian,  Var.   Hist.  vii.  6, 


LAWS  TO  RESTRAIN  ITS  USE. 


183 


the  open  air,  amid  rain  or  snow.  With  their  simple  breacan  they  suffer- 
ed "the  most  cruel  tempest  that  could  blow,  in  the  field,  in  such  sort, 
that  under  a  wreath  of  snow  they  slept  sound."  The  advantage  of  this 
vesture  was  almost  incalculable.  During  rain  it  could  be  brought  over 
the  head  and  shoulders;  and,  while  other  troops  suffered  from  want  of 
shelter,  the  Highlander  carried  in  his  mantle  an  ample  quantity  of 
warm  covering.  If  three  men  slept  together,  they  were  enabled  to 
spread  three  folds  of  warm  clothing  under,  and  six  above  them.  The 
42nd,  78th,  and  79th  regiments,  who  marched  through  Holland  in  1794, 
when  the  cold  was  so  severe  as  to  freeze  brandy  in  bottles,  suffered  in- 
comparably less  than  other  corps  who  wore  plenty  of  warm  apparel. 

O'Leary,  contrasting  the  ancient  state  of  his  countrymen  with  their 
degeneracy,  and,  alluding  to  their  practice  of  sleeping  in  the  woods, 
observes  that  "the  uprising  combatant  had  not  the  ringlets  of  his  hair 
bound  with  frost."  Breeches  formed  no  part  of  their  ancient  costume; 
and,  even  in  1712,  Dobbs  tells  us  that  they  went  bare-legged  most  part 
of  the  year.  From  constant  exposure  to  a  cold  and  inconstant  climate, 
the  Gael  were  inured  and  indifferent  to  hardships.  They  were  so  habit- 
uated to  wet,  that  it  had  no  effect  on  their  constitutions. 

However  rude  and  unpolished  the  ancient  Gael  were,  according  to 
our  ideas  who  live  in  an  age  of  so  high  refinement,  they  were  certainly 
in  possession  of  many  curious  and  useful  arts.  Giraldus  Cambrensis  is 
convicted  of  falsehood,  in  saying  that  the  Irish  had  no  manufactures,  it 
being  evident,  even  from  his  own  testimony,  that  they  had  knitters, 
weavers,  dyers,  fullers,  tailors,  &c.  If  they  had  not  the  art  of  making 
cloth,  where  did  they  procure  the  braccae,  the  phalangium,  or  sagum, 
with  caputii  of  various  colors,  which  he  says  they  wore? 

While  the  Highlanders  were  able  to  produce  cloth  of  many  brilliant 
and  permanent  colors,  the  inhabitants  of  other  countries  were  less  skil- 
ful manufacturers.  I  believe  it  is  Camden  who  relates,  that  at  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  Armada  invasion,  the  people  of  England  were  generally 
obliged  to  wear  white  cloth,  because  they  could  not  send  it  to  the  Low 
Country  to  be  dyed. 

That  the  Franks  and  Saxons  retained,  for  a  long  time,  the  manufac- 
tures of  their  Celtic  ancestors,  has  been  shown.  Charlemagne,  adher- 
ing to  the  primitive  costume,  dressed  like  the  Scots'  Highlanders;  and, 
from  Windichind's  description  of  a  Saxon,  he  closely  resembled  a  Cale- 
donian.* 

The  costume  of  the  Gael,  like  their  language,  being  so  different  from 
that  of  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  British  islands,  was  fondly  retained 
as  a  national  distinction,  and  a  memorial  of  their  independence. 

This  strong  predilection  led  to  repeated  enactments.  By  an  act  of  the 
fifth  of  Edward  IV.  the  Irish  were  ordered  to  dress  like  the  English,  un- 
der the  pain  of  a  forfeiture  of  goods;  and  a  similar  law  was  passed  in  the 
tenth  of  Henry  VII.    These  statutes  had  little  effect,  for,  in  the  twenty- 


*  Camden's  Britannia. 


184 


ACT  AGAINST  THE  DRESS  REPEALED. 


eighth  of  Henry  VIII.  another  enactment  prohibits,  under  a  severe  pen 
alty,  all  persons  from  shaving  above  their  ears,  wearing  cromeal  on  their 
lips,  or  glibes  on  their  heads;  or  from  dressing  in  any  shirt,  smock, 
kerchor,  bendel,  neckerchor,  mochet,  or  linen  cap,  colored  or  dyed  with 
saffron;  or  to  wear  in  their  shirts  or  smocks  more  than  seven  yards  of 
eloth,  according  to  the  king's  standard.* 

The  Irish,  notwithstanding  these  peremptory  statutes,  which  were 
strictly  enforced  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  had  not  entirely  laid  aside  their 
ancient  garb,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was,  how- 
ever, confined  to  the  peasantry,  the  dress  of  others  being  assimilated  to 
the  prevailing  fashion  in  England,  although,  in  some  parts,  an  adhe- 
rence to  ancient  custom  was  apparent.  The  costume  of  th^  gentry,  at 
the  above  period,  is  described  as  consisting  of  a  leather  quilted  jacke, 
long-slieved  smocks,  half-slieved  coats,  silken  fillets,  and  riding  shoes  of 
costly  cordwaine.| 

The  Highlanders  were  prohibited  from  carrying  their  arms  by  the 
first  parliament  of  George  I.,  1716.  In  1747,  a  similar  act  was  passed, 
with  these  more  oppressive  and  absurd  additions,  that  "  neither  man  nor 
boy,  except  such  as  should  be  employed  as  officers  and  soldiers,  should, 
on  any  pretence,  wear  or  put  on  the  clothes  commonly  called  Highland 
clothes,  viz.  the  plaid,  philibeg,  or  little  kilt,  trowse,  shoulder  belts,  or 
any  part  whatsoever  of  what  peculiarly  belongs  to  the  Highland  garb; 
and  that  no  tartan  or  party-colored  plaid,  or  stuff,  should  be  used  for 
great  coats  or  for  upper  coats,"  In  1782,  the  Duke  of  Montrose  brought 
forward  a  bill,  by  which  "  so  much  of  the  above,  or  any  other  acts,  as 
restrain  the  use  of  the  Highland  dress,  is  repealed." 

The  costume  of  the  Gael  is  no  longer  deemed  a  mark  of  disloyalty, 
and  an  object  of  legal  prohibition.  The  harsh  and  unnecessary  law 
which  denounced  the  use  of  tartan  has  been  expunged  from  the  statute 
book;  and  one  of  the  most  popular  objects  of  the  Highland  Societies  of 
London  and  Edinburgh,  with  their  various  branches,  is  to  cherish  and 
promote  an  attention  to  this  honorable  and  manly  costume,  so  appropri- 
ate a  concomitant  to  the  peculiar  language  and  manners  of  the  Scotish 
Gael.  The  Highland  dress  is  universally  admired  and  respected.  On 
the  Continent,  where  the  bravery  and  moral  worth  of  the  Scots  is  known 
and  appreciated,  it  is  not  merely  an  object  of  interest:  it  is  a  passport 
to  the  best  society,  and  a  uniform  that  can  rank  with  the  proudest  of 
orders.  Our  gracious  Sovereign,  when  he  visited  the  capital  of  his  north- 
ern dominions,  personally  fixed  it  as  the  court  dress  of  Scotland. 


*  Harris's  ed.  of  S.  J,  Ware's  Antiquities  of  Ireland,  ii.  178. 


t  Spenser. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


OF  THE  ARMS  AND  MILITARY  ACCOUTREMENTS  OF  THE  CELTS. 

The  armor  of  the  Celts  may  not  inappropriately  be  considered  their 
dress,  inasmuch  as  they  seldom  laid  aside  their  arms  of  defence,  and 
never  appeared  abroad  without  some  part  of  their  military  weapons. 
Respecting  these,  we  have  to  express  the  same  regret  that  was  occasion- 
ed by  the  subject  of  the  preceding  Chapter:  there  are  few  monuments 
of  antiquity  that  can,  with  certainty,  be  pronounced  Gallic,  and  of  these 
few,  scarcely  any  display  the  military  attire;  the  Romans,  according  to 
Montfaucon,  repressing  any  desire  to  represent  a  subjugated  people  as 
independent  warriors.  It  was  a  particular  honor  conferred  on  two  Cel- 
tic legions,  and  a  tribute  to  their  unparalleled  bravery,  that  statues  of 
them  in  their  arms  were  set  up  at  Edessa,  as  before  recited. 

The  Gauls,  in  general,  sought  no  other  defence  than  what  nature  sup- 
plied, despising  artificial  means  of  protecting  their  bodies;*  but,  when 
fully  accoutred,  they  had  both  helmets  and  shields,  breast-plates,  and 
coats  of  mail,  the  common  use  of  which  was,  apparently,  confined  to  the 
nobles;  the  vassals,  or  clients,  being  unable  to  procure  these  articles, 
or,  perhaps,  denied  the  privilege  of  wearing  them.  The  German  foot, 
in  the  days  of  Tacitus,  were  either  naked,  or  dressed  in  light  cassocks, 
having  few  coats  of  mail,  and  fewer  helmets.  The  ancient  Britons  are 
described  as  going  generally  almost  naked,  disregarding  all  defensive 
armor,  except  the  shield. f 

It  does  not  appear  whether  the  plates  of  iron  with  which  they  covered 
their  necks  and  bellies, J  were  used  as  ornaments  or  for  protection. 
Mela  says,  the  Britons  wore  the  same  armor  as  the  Gauls,  but,  like 


Diodorus. 


t  Herodian,  iii. 
24 


X  Dio. 


186 


CELTS'  CONTEMPT  FOR  DEFENSIVE  ARMOR. 


them,  they  relied  on  their  dexterity  and  physical  strength  rather  than  on 
any  defensive  armor,  which  they  considered  as  an  incumbrance,  if  not  an 
indication  of  cowardice.  "I  wear  no  armor,"  said  an  Earl  of  Strath- 
erne,  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard,  1133;  '*yet  they  who  do,  will  not 
advance  beyond  me  this  day."  Giraldus  Cambrensis  says,  the  Welsh 
fought  naked,  or  used  very  light  armor,  that  it  might  not  impede  their 
exertions,  the  Irish  despising  it  altogether.  At  the  battle  of  Telamon, 
the  Gesata?  stripped  off  their  dresses  and  stood  before  tlie  army  naked, 
carrying  their  weapons  only,  that  they  might  not  be  entangled  by  the 
bushes  or  otherwise  obstructed.  Polybius  describes  it  as  terrible,  and 
astonishing  to  see  those  men  marching  naked,  and  to  observe  the  motion 
of  their  big  bodies;  conduct,  however,  more  fool-hardy  than  discreet,  for 
they  were  dreadfully  galled  by  the  Roman  archers,  and,  finally,  beaten 
back  with  dreadful  slaughter.  On  other  occasions,  we  find  this  practice 
of  denuding  themselves  noticed.  The  Gael  retained  the  same  custom 
until  almost  the  last  century,  the  chief  being  the  first  to  set  the  example. 
However  creditable  this  was  to  their  heroism,  and  however  advantageous 
it  might  be  in  allowing  a  perfect  freedom  of  action,  the  want  of  defen- 
sive armor  must  have,  on  many  occasions,  been  severely  felt.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  Low  Country  were,  in  this  respect,  superior  to  the  Highland- 
ers, who,  as  the  song  says, 

"  Had  only  got  the  belted  plaid, 
While  they  were  mail-clad  men." 

Or  as  was  observed  of  their  scanty  covering  in  a  later  age, 

"  The  Highland  men  are  clever  men,  at  handling  sword  or  bow, 
But  yet  they  are  ower  naked  men,  to  bide  the  gun,  I  trow." 

However  much  the  Celts  may  have  valued  themselves  on  their  con- 
tempt for  armor,  they  were  not  ignorant  of  its  utility,  nor  deficient  in  its 
fabrication.  They  were  dexterous  in  the  manufacture  of  military  wea- 
pons, and  careful,  even  to  nicety,  of  their  warlike  accoutrements.  Their 
greatest  delight  was  in  the  excellence  and  beauty  of  their  arms;  the 
ancient  Irish  appearing,  from  Solinus,  to  have  been  remarkable  for  this 
attention  to  their  appointments. 

To  the  Gauls  the  honor  of  inventing  chain  mail  appears  due,  which, 
from  being  at  first  made  of  leather,  according  to  Varro,*  acquired  the  name 
of  Lorica.  It  is  called,  in  Gaelic,  luirich,  and  was  the  usual  body  covering 
of  the  Scots  and  Irish,  who  wore  armor,  the  plate  being  almost  unknown 
among  tnem;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  worn  of  considerable  length. 
"The  armor  wherewith  they  cover  their  bodies,"  says  the  old  Chronicle 
before  quoted,  "  in  time  of  war,  is  an  iron  bonnet  and  an  habergion  side 
almost  even  to  their  heels."  Throughout  Scotland,  the  jaque  de  maill 
was  chiefly  worn,  according  to  a  French  author,  who  describes  it  in  the 
sixteenth  century;  and  the  person  who  furnished  Holinshed  with  his  ac- 
count of  Scotland  seems  to  prefer  it,  as  he  regrets  that  his  countrymen 
should  use  heavy  armor.    The  Irish  full  armed  troops,  in  the  seventeenth 


*  De  lingua  Latina. 


MAIL  AND  HELMETS  OF  THE  CELTIC  NATIONS.  187 


century,  wore  shirts  of  mail  that  reached  to  the  calf  of  the  leg,  and 
which  were  sometimes  of  leather,  stuck  with  iron  nails.*  They  also 
had  girdles,  that  were  proof  against  shot.| 

The  Cimbri  wore  iron  breastplates; J  and  some  of  the  Gauls,  accord- 
ing to  Diodorus,  had  a  sort  of  cuirass  of  similar  metal,  formed  in  rings, 
or  hooked,  resembling  chain  mail,  as  some  think.  They  had  also  a 
kind  of  interlaced  wicker  under  their  vests. 

Helmets  were  more  general,  it  would  appear,  among  the  Gauls  than 
the  Germans,  who,  from  various  sculptures,  are  seen  with  a  piece  of 
cloth  wrapped  round  their  heads.  In  the  form  and  ornaments  of  the 
helmet,  the  Celts  had  an  opportunity  for  indulging  their  passion  for  dec- 
oration. 

Among  the  Gauls,  the  Lusitanians,  the  Celtiberians,  and  all  of  the 
same  race,  they  were  made  of  brass.  The  former  sometimes  fixed  on 
them  appendages  resembling  horns,  or  the  wings  of  Mercury,  of  the 
same  metal,  or  embellished  them  with  the  figures  of  birds  and  beasts. 
The  tribes  in  Spain  and  Portugal  surmounted  them  with  red  plumes,  ap- 
parently of  horses'  hair,§  and  the  Cimbri  had  them  formed  like  the  jaws 
and  muzzles  of  various  wild  beasts,  adorning  them  farther  with  plumes, 
like  wings,  of  a  prodigious  height. ||  Chonodomarius,  a  celebrated  hero, 
is  described  as  riding  about  in  glittering  armor,  with  a  flame-colored 
wreath  or  tassel  on  his  helmet. IT 


In  the  preceding  cut,  the  two  helmets  on  the  right  are  from  the  sculp- 
tures at  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris;  the  upper  one  on  tne  left  is 
from  Dr.  Meyrick's  work  on  armor,  as  is  the  one  in  the  vignette;  the 
lower  is  from  a  figure  engraved  in  Montfaucon's  Antiquities;  and  that 
in  the  centre  from  a  German  on  the  column  of  Antoninus 

The  Massagetse  had  their  helmets  and  breastplates  ornamented  with 

*  Spenser.    Ware.  f  Barn.  Riche.  t  Plutarch,  de  Bello  Cimb. 

§  Diodorus.  ||  Plutarch,  ut  sup.  IT  Amin.  Mar.  xvi.  10. 


1B8 


CELTIC  SHIELDS. 


gold.  The  Thracians,  in  Xerxes's  time,  had  caps  of  foxes'  skins.*  It 
is  probable  the  ancient  Caledonians  had  a  covering  for  the  head,  of  a 
similar  material;  little  Oscar,  in  Smith's  version  of  "  Cathula,"  being 
represented  with  his  little  helm  of  the  fur  of  fawns. 

The  helmet,  clogaid,  literally  the  apex,  or  ceann-bheart,  a  headpiece, 
is  mentioned  by  the  oldest  bards  as  not  uncommon  amongst  the  Gael; 
and  from  these  authorities  we  find  that  they  were  adorned  with  the  feath- 
ers of  the  eagle's  wing,  perhaps  the  whole  pinion,  by  which  Ossian 
appears  to  have  recognised  an  Irish  chief,  it  being  a  mark  of  distinction, 
for  we  find  the  "gray  feather  "  always  worn  by  a  hero.  We  must  make 
allowance  for  the  privilege  of  the  poetical  historians  to  embellish  their 
recitals  by  national  imagery,  every  individual  figuring  in  these  tales  be- 
ing a  hero,  if  not  a  cean-iigh,'\  and  consequently  entitled  to  wear  a 
helmet  and  its  proper  crest.  Whether  helmets  formed  of  metal  were  very 
numerous  in  Caledonia  during  the  FingaUan  dynasty,  may  be  doubted; 
but  the  eagle's  feather  has  ever  been  the  peculiar  badge  of  Highland 
nobility. 

A  skull  cap,  in  times  less  distant  from  the  present  age,  protected  the 
chieftain's  head,  and  does  not  at  any  time  appear  to  have  been  worn  by 
those  under  the  degree  of  a  Galloglach.  Among  the  Irish,  the  glibe, 
or  matted  hair,  served  the  purpose  of  a  helmet,  but  they  also  used  a 
head-piece  covered  with  hide.  The  Scots  were  long  but  ill  provided 
with  armor.  At  the  battle  of  the  Standard,  the  infantry  had  nothing  for 
defence  but  a  target  of  leather. 

The  SHIELD  of  the  Gauls,  according  to  Strabo  and  Virgil,  was  usually 
long, J  and  the  Ligurians  carried  one  of  the  same  form.  In  sculpture, 
we  perceive  the  Germans  with  an  oval  shaped  buckler  of  ample  dimen- 
sions. Tacitus  admits  it  was  large,  but  suited  to  the  size  of  the  bearer. 
From  the  plates  in  Cluverius's  work,  we  find  it  was  at  first  formed  of  the 
rough  wood,  or  bark  of  a  tree,  sometimes  retaining  the  natural  curve,  but 
at  other  times  appearing  flat,  and  nearly  the  length  of  the  body;  in  several 
instances  it  appears  formed  of  straw,  or  rushes,  something  resembling 
the  work  of  bee-hives. 

A  small  round  shield  seems,  however,  to  have  been  the  favorite  of  the 
CeltfB ;  and  Schoepflin  notices  the  remains  of  some  discovered  in  Ger- 
many.^ Several  of  the  Celtiberi  used  the  light  shield  of  the  Gauls,  and 
others  bore  round  targets,  the  size  of  bucklers  ;||  but,  at  Cannge,  Poly- 
bius  says  they  both  carried  the  same  kind,  which  he  describes  as  weak. IT 
The  Roman  shield  was,  at  first,  square;  but  in  their  wars  with  the 
Tyrhenians,  a  people  of  Gallic  origin,  they  adopted  the  round  form  used 
by  that  people.**  From  the  spoils  that  were  taken  at  Thermopylae, 
where  the  Gauls  had  no  other  weapons  of  defence,  and  deposited  in  the 

*  Herodotus,  vii.  75.  t  Head  of  a  house,  chieftain. 

t  Lib.  iv.  p.  299,  ed.  1707.  iEneid,  viii.,  v.  660,  &c. 

§  Alsatia  illustrata,  i.  67.  |1  Diodorus. 

^  Lib.  ii.  2.  Diodorus,  Fragmenta  xxiii. 


CELTIC  SHIELDS. 


189 


temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphos,  Pausanias  describes  them  as  similar  to  the 
wicker  targets  of  the  Persians,  called  Gerrha.*  Those  Celts  called 
them  thureoi,  or  thyreos;  the  Welsh  still  use  tarian,  and  the  French  retair. 
thiros.t  In  the  Gaelic,  tearmun,  protection,  or  defence,  is  applied  to  a 
shield,  as  well  as  targaid,  from  whence  comes  the  Saxon  targa  and  Eng- 
lish target;  but  sgiath  is  the  usual  term,  and  is  applied  to  a  buckler  from 
its  supposed  resemblance  to  a  wing,  denoted  by  the  same  word.  The 
most  ancient  and  most  common  shields  of  the  Caledonians  were,  proba- 
bly, made  of  interwoven  twigs  covered  with  hide.  In  the  poem  of 
Cathula,  a  sword  is  said  to  pass  through  the  folds  of  a  shield;  and 
young  Oscar,  in  Duthona,  is  represented  with  one  formed  of  woven 
reeds. J  Ccesar  describes  the  Aduatici,  who  occupied  the  country  about 
Douay,  as  having  targets  of  wicker,  covered  with  a  tough  hide;  and 
Tacitus  says  those  of  the  Germans  were  either  a  sort  of  basket  work,  or 
of  board,  painted,  but  seldom  bound  either  with  leather  or  iron,^  like 
that  of  the  Romans.  The  Scots  of  Ulster,  in  the  time  of  Spenser,  car- 
ried long  wicker  shields,  which  were  quite  unknown  among  the  Southern 
tribes.  II 

Lucan  says  some  of  the  Celtiberi  used  a  small  shield,  called  Cetra, 
which  the  Romans  afterwards  adopted.  I  find  that  Cetra,  in  Gaelic, 
means  something  intervening,  a  term  very  applicable  to  a  shield.  The 
Lusitani  carried  shields  of  a  peculiar  form,  resembling  a  half  moon,  and 
composed  of  the  sinews  of  animals,  so  strongly  interwoven,  that,  for 
lightness  and  strength,  they  could  not  be  excelled;  being,  besides,  man- 
aged with  admirable  skill,  and  whirled  about  so  dexterously  that  it  was 
scarcely  possible  to  wound  the  person  who  bore  them. IT  They  were  cal- 
led Peltje,  and  four  are  represented  on  the  shield  of  the  Vesontes  in  the 
engraving.  Among  the  Etruscans  it  was  round,  and  not  fixed  to  the 
arm,  but  held  in  the  centre  by  the  hand. 

The  shield  of  the  ancient  Caledonians,  according  to  Herodian,  was 
oblong,  resembling  those  assigned  by  Cluverius  to  the  continental  Celts; 
but  numerous  discoveries  prove  that /this  was  not  the  only  form,  if  it  was 
at  all  common.  Dr.  Meyrick,  indeed,  exhibited  lately  to  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries,  a  curious  remain  of  a  shield  of  this  shape,  but  the  original 
British  target  was  circular.  The  figure  of  Britannia  on  Roman  coins  is 
represented  with  one  of  this  form,  and  apparently  of  the  dimensions  of 
those  which  the  Highlanders,  during  their  independence,  continued  to 
use.  The  bards  invariably  speak  of  them  as  round,  and  they  appear  to 
have  generally  resembled  those  used  in  the  last  century,  the  poetical  ex- 
pressions "dark  brown,"  "shield  of  thongs,"  alluding  to  their  cover- 
ing of  leather.  The  targaid  of  the  Scots'  Highlanders  was  always  orbi- 
cular, and  formed  of  one  or  two  thin  pieces  of  wood,  covered  with  one 
or  more  folds  of  thick  leather,  fastened  by  numerous  nails,  usually  of 
brass,  but  often  of  iron,  and  sometimes  of  silver,  according  to  the  cir- 


*  Lib.  X.  19,  20. 
§  Annals,  ii. 


t  Holmes. 

II  View  of  Ireland,  p.  43. 


t  Smith's  Gallic  Ant. 
IT  Diodorus. 


90 


CELTIC  SHIELDS. 


oumstances  of  the  party.  These  nails,  or  knobs,  served  to  strengthen 
the  targaid,  and  were  rendered  highly  ornamental  to  it,  for  they  were 
sometimes  formed  into  representations  of  armorial  badges,  by  means  of 
the  different  metals.  The  most  usual  style  was  an  arrangement  in  con- 
centric circles,  which  had  a  pleasing  and  rich  effect.  The  one  repre- 
sented in  the  plate  is  in  the  armory  of  the  Tower  of  London,  and  mea- 
sures one  foot  nine  inches  in  diameter.  The  one  shown  in  the  vignette, 
p.  185,  is  taken  from  a  portrait  of  a  Highland  nobleman  in  the  Trius,  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Donald  Currie,  Regent  street.  The  circular  ar- 
rangement of  the  nails  is  singular;  for  a  bronze  target  of  nearly  the 
same  dimensions,  found  in  Cardiganshire,  and  represented  in  Dr.  Mey- 
rick's  excellent  history  of  that  county,  exhibits,  in  relief,^sixteen  circular 
lines  of  knobs,  exactly  resembling  the  nails  on  the  shields  of  the  High- 
landers. It  is  difficult  to  determine  whether  the  metal  buckler  was  an 
imitation  of  the  wooden,  or  its  model.  Like  the  Scots'  target,  this  curious 
relick  was  carried  by  a  single  hold,  a  piece  of  metal  being  placed  across 
the  boss,  or  umbo,  which  afforded  room  for  the  hand;  and,  in  numerous 
cases,  those  parts  have  been  discovered  of  iron  and  brass,  when  the 
wooden  shield  has  been  long  perished.  This  method  of  wielding  the 
shield  was  common  to  all  Northern  nations.* 

The  small  round  target,  covered  v/ifch  leather,  common  to  both  Scots 
and  Irish,  was  always  retained  by  the  Highlanders,  who  signalized  them- 
selves by  its  adroit  management.  So  early  as  the  first  century,  their 
ancestors  excited  admiration  by  the  dexterity  with  which  they  used  it  in 
eluding  the  missiles  of  the  Roman  army.|  The  single  hold,  by  which 
the  targe  was  grasped,  enabled  the  bearer  to  use  it  with  advantage;  and 
of  so  much  importance  was  it  deemed,  that,  in  the  last  unfortunate  rebel- 
lion, it  was  the  first  care,  after  the  battle  of  Preston  Pans,  to  provide  a 
large  supply  for  the  army.  By  receiving  the  points  of  the  bayonets  on 
their  targets,  they  were  able  with  their  swords  to  assail  the  enemy,  who, 
by  this  mode  of  attack,  were  almost  defenceless.  Nor  was  this  all:  the 
shield  had  often  a  spike  fixed  in  the  centre;  and  they  were  accustomed 
to  carry  the  dirk  along  with  it,  and  thus  were  doubly  armed.  "When 
within  reach  of  the  enemies'  bayonets,  bending  their  left  knee,  they,  by 
their  attitude,  cover  their  bodies  with  their  targets,  that  receive  the 
thrusts  of  the  bayonets,  which  they  contrive  to  parry,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  they  raise  their  sword  arm  and  strike  their  adversary.  Having 
once  got  within  the  bayonets,  the  fate  of  the  battle  is  decided  in  an  in- 
stant, and  the  carnage  follows;  the  Highlanders  bringing  down  two 
men  at  a  time,  one  with  their  dirk  in  the  left  hand,  and  another  with  the 
sword.  These  are  the  words  of  one  who  served  in  the  campaign,  and 
was  well  qualified  to  give  an  opinion. J  This  superiority  in  tactics  en- 
gaged considerable  attention  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion,  and  various 
plans  were  suggested  to  enable  the  regular  troops  to  resist  the  furious 
onset  of  the  Highlanders. 


*  Keysler. 


1  Vita  Agric. 


t  Mem.  of  Chev.  Johnstone,  p.  86 


Leather  covered  Highland  Target. 


USES  OF  THE  SHIELD. 


191 


The  targe  was  usually  hung  on  the  left  shoulder;  and,  on  a  march,  it 
was  sometimes  borne  on  the  arm:  but,  except  in  actual  war,  it  was  not 
carried  about  the  person.  It  was  reckoned  the  greatest  disgrace  among 
the  Germans,  to  quit  their  shield  in  battle.  He  who  did  so  was  not  per- 
mitted to  join  in  sacrifice,  or  attend  the  public  assemblies;  and  many 
who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose  this  part  of  their  arms,  hanged 
themselves,  to  avoid  the  shame  of  appearing  under  a  circumstance  so 
disgraceful.*  The  Gael  did  not  carry  this  feeling  so  far,  yet  the  High- 
lander never  willingly  parted  with  his  targe, 

"  Whose  brazen  studds  and  tcmgli  bull  hide, 
Had  death  so  often  dashed  aside."  t 

The  shield  of  the  Celtic  chiefs  was  frequently  of  metal,  or,  like  the 
above,  was  covered  with  it.  An  iron  shield,  round,  and  weighing  nearly 
twenty  pounds,  is  mentioned  by  Pennant  as  preserved  at  Dunvegan 
Castle,  in  Sky.  That  of  the  Earl  of  Mar,  in  the  engraving,  is  of  steel, 
ornamented  with  gold. 

The  shield  was  sometimes  raised  in  bosses,  called,  in  Gaelic,  copan, 
which,  from  being  hollow,  could  be  made  to  emit  a  sound,  and,  by 
means  of  these,  it  served  other  uses  of  some  importance  among  the  an- 
cient Caledonians.  It  was  either  suspended  on  a  tree,  or  between 
spears,  near  the  king  or  commander  of  an  army;  and,  when  at  sea,  it 
hung  on  the  mast,  "the  dismal  sign  of  war,"  and  being  struck  with  a 
spear,  was  a  signal  for  assembling  the  army,  or  preparing  for  immediate 
battle.  Hence  it  was  poetically  named  "  the  shield  of  alarms,"  "the 
warning  boss,"  &c. 

The  Celts  did  every  thing  in  a  grave,  solemn,  and  peculiar  way.  It 
seems  to  have  been  a  privilege  or  duty  of  the  leader  of  the  war  "to 
strike  his  shield  at  times,"  and  the  warriors  appear  to  have  done  so 
occasionally,  "  when  their  rage  arose,"  either  to  keep  alive  their  ardor, 
or  as  an  indication  of  their  readiness  and  anxiety  for  the  contest.  It 
was  also  the  practice,  at  least  during  the  war,  of  awakening  the  chiefs 
by  these  means.  I  cannot,  however,  very  well  conceive  how  the  sound 
emitted  could  be  sufficiently  loud  to  be  heard  through  the  whole  army, 
as  the  expressions  of  the  poets  seem  to  imply,  although  they  had  been 
formed  of  the  most  sonorous  materials;  and  such  a  mode  of  directing  the 
military  operations  of  the  troops  appears  unnecessary,  where  there  were 
horns  for  the  express  purpose.  A  people  that  were  able  to  fabricate  the 
other  ingenious  parts  of  their  military  accoutrements,  could  certainly 
form  a  shield  of  iron  capable  of  producing  a  certain  tone;  but  the  extra- 
ordinary effect  that  is  said  to  have  attended  the  loud  clang  of  these 
bucklers,  can  only  be  set  down  as  a  poetical  embellishment. 

The  shield  of  Cathmor,  a  chief  of  Ireland,  as  described  in  the  seventh 
book  of  Temora,  seems  too  artificial  to  be  reconciled,  with  satisfaction, 
to  the  rude  state  of  the  arts  at  that  time.    It  had  seven  bosses,  each  of 


*  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ 


t  Sir  Walter  Scott. 


192 


USES  OF  THE  SHIELD. 


which  was  ornamented  with  a  star,  representing  a  constellation,*  and 
conveyed  by  its  sound  a  particular  order  from  the  king.  I  should  cer- 
tainly be  inclined  to  doubt  the  existence  of  such  a  singular  article,  did 
we  not  know,  from  discoveries,  that  the  bosses  were  sometimes  of  silver, 
or  other  metal,  of  vfery  ingenious  workmanship,  and  were  it  not  possible 
to  attempt  a  rational  explanation  of  this  traditional  account.  Shields  of 
metal  were  certainly  of  limited  use  among  those  tribes,  and  were  con- 
fined to  the  chief  men,  giving  rise  to  the  expression  of  "blue-shielded 
kings,"  8lc.  That  of  Fingal  was  evidently  of  this  sort;  and  the  follow- 
ing passage  will  throw  considerable  light  on  the  manner  in  which  this 
curious  custom  was  observed.  "  On  two  spears  hung  his  shield  on  high; 
the  gleaming  sign  of  death:  that  shield  which  he  was  wont  to  strike,  by 
night,  before  he  rushed  to  war.  It  was  then  his  warriors  knew  when 
the  king  was  to  lead  in  strife;  for,  never  was  this  buckler  heard,  till  the 
wrath  of  Fingal  arose."  This  shield,  formed  of  metal,  or  covered  with 
a  plate  of  iron,  was  of  a  more  simple  construction  than  that  of  Cathmor. 

The  term  "  bossy,"  applied  to  these  bucklers,  was  expressive  of  the 
little  convex  plates  with  which  they  were  ornamented.  Some  were,  no 
doubt,  fabricated  with  superior  ingenuity,  divided  into  several  of  these 
bosses,  or  knobs,  a  blow  on  any  one  of  which  might  have  been  the 
method  by  which  the  commands  of  the  General  were  conveyed  to  the 
army.  This  is  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  symbolical  and  figurative  man- 
ners of  the  Celtic  race,  and  the  method  was  less  strange  than  at  first 
appears. 

The  seven  bosses  on  Cathmor's  shield  were  "the  seven  voices  of  the 
king,  which  his  warriors  received  from  the  wind,  and  marked  over  all 
their  tribes."  Here  we  are  not  told  that  the  sound  of  the  particular 
boss  which  he  struck  was  so  loud  as  to  be  heard  by  all  the  army,  but  the 
different  clans  were  informed  by  means  of  the  warriors.  In  the  former 
extract  we  also  find  that  it  was  the  warriors,  i.  e.  the  uasal,  or  those 
above  the  commons,  only,  who  knew  when  the  engagement  was  to  com- 
mence. 

It  may  be  further  observed,  that  the  King  of  Morven,  on  one  occa- 
sion, having  struck  his  shield  in  the  night,  many  of  his  host  were  awak- 
ened, and  thought  it  was  a  signal  for  them  to  get  under  arms,  which, 
from  other  passages,  we  are  led  to  believe  it  must  have  been;  but 
receiving  no  further  intimation,  they  again  went  to  sleep.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  believe  that  these  shields  could  have  sounded  so  loud  as  the  Bard, 
by  poetical  license  has  given  us  to  understand;  and  if  the  bosses  of 
Cathmor's  had  rung  with  the  noise  of  tenor  bells,  the  army  would, 
nevertheless,  have  been  liable  to  misunderstand  their  import:  but  the 
king's  determination  being  indicated  by  his  giving  a  certain  number  of 
knocks  on  a  particular  boss,  his  warriors  or  attendants  instantly  retired 
and  conveyed  his  orders  to  their  respective  clans.  The  shield  was  the 
only  part  of  the  warrior's  armor  appropriate  for  the  purpose  of  announc- 
*  The  shield  of  Achilles  was,  likewise,  ornamented  with  celestial  signs. 


ORNAMENTS  OF  THE  SHIELD. 


193 


ing  the  resolutions  of  the  chief;  and,  as  that  of  Cathrnor  was  different 
from  Fingal's,  perhaps  each  tribe  had  their  peculiar  signals. 

The  king  is  defender  of  his  people,  and  the  shield,  used  as  the  defence 
of  the  body,  denoted  his  presence,  by  being  always  suspended  beside 
him.  It  was  also  used  figuratively,  to  denote  this  ofhce  of  defender,  in 
being  carried  by  bards  in  front  of  the  army  after  a  victory,  as  we. find 
from  a  Gaelic  poem  which  refers  to  the  era  of  the  Caledonian  Bard. 
Those  who  besought  assistance,  also  presented  a  shield  covered  with 
blood,  to  denote  the  death  of  their  friends  or  defenders. 

The  use  of  the  shield  as  a  tablet,  whereon  the  glory  and  renown  of 
heroes  and  their  ancestors  were  set  forth,  is  not  its  most  ancient  appro- 
priation. The  origin  of  coat  armor  is,  more  probably,  to  be  traced  from 
the  practice  of  displaying  the  intentions  or  determination  of  hostile  par- 
ties. If  the  ancient  warriors  wore  the  skins  and  other  parts  of  the 
animals  they  killed,  or  adorned  themselves  with  the  spoils  of  their  van- 
quished enemies,  they  did  so  to  inspire  terror,  by  this  means  of  showing 
no  less  their  power  and  valor  than  their  inclination  to  support  their 
prowess.  Nations  and  individuals  have  frequently  assumed  certain 
symbols  and  borne  them  on  their  shields  or  ensigns,  to  demonstrate  to 
others  the  designs  on  which  they  were  engaged. 

The  very  meaning  of  the  word  herald  signifies  the  champion  of  an  ar- 
my; and  to  declare  war  is  still  his  province.  The  Bards  were  the  her- 
alds of  the  Celtas,  and  they  carried  the  shields  of  the  chiefs,  as  the 
herald  of  succeeding  ages  bore  the  arms  of  his  country  or  patron. 

The  marks  impressed  on  the  leather  covered  targaid  resembles  the 
intertwining  of  sprigs,  a  favorite  ornament  among  the  Celts,  being  imi- 
tated in  the  hilts  of  the  dirks,  and  introduced  in  their  brooches  and  other 
ornaments.  This  intricate  tracery,  which  formed,  for  so  many  ages, 
their  common  pattern,  is  seen  in  the  rude  sculptures  of  monumental 
stones,  and  appears  to  be  derived  from  the  mysterious  woven  knots  of 
the  branches  of  trees,  under  which  the  Druids  concealed  their  know- 
ledge, and  of  which  more  shall  be  said  hereafter. 

The  Gauls,  says  Diodorus,  had  often  the  brazen  figures  of  animals  on 
their  shields,  which  served  both  for  ornament  and  strength;  those  of  the 
Cimbri  being  bright  and  glittering,  adorned  with  the  figures  of  beasts.^ 
The  Celtse  were  also  fond  of  painting  their  shields,  a  practice  which  they 
had  in  most  ancient  times,  and  which,  being  adopted  for  the  purpose  of 
distinction,  is  clearly  the  origin  of  the  science  of  heraldry,  about  which 
its  professors  and  antiquaries  are  so  ill  agreed. 

At  Thermopylse,  the  Gauls  had  their  shields  painted  in  a  certain  man- 
ner; and  the  night  being  so  dark  as  to  prevent  them  from  perceiving  the 
figures,  they  were  unable  to  recognise  their  own  troops,  and  consequent- 
ly fell  into  complete  confusion. | 

When  society  is  rude  and  unsettled,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  indi- 

*  Plutarch,  vita  Marii. 

t  "  Nec  scutorum  signa  possent  agnoscere."    Pausanias,  ed.  Francofurti,  1583,  p.  287, 

25 


194 


BANNERS. 


viduals  will  have  distinctive  symbols  or  marks;  a  whole  tribe  adopts  a 
general  recognisance:  but  the  origin  of  coat  armor  is  to  be  traced  to  a 
much  more  remote  period  than  the  era  of  justs  and  tournaments.  Dr. 
Henry  very  ingeniously  supposes  that  the  introduction  of  clothing  led  to 
the  transfer  of  the  figures  which  characterized  nobility,  from  the  body 
to  the  shield.*  This  is,  probably,  in  some  degree  true,  for  the  skin  was 
stained  for  a  mark  of  distinction;!  but  insignia,  I  apprehend,  were  first 
exhibited  on  standards  and  shields;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  practice 
was,  at  first,  connected  with  a  religious  feeling,  the  figures  being,  per- 
haps, the  symbols  of  gods.  In  proof  of  this,  we  find  that  the  JEstii  car- 
ried the  images  of  boars,  to  indicate  the  worship  of  the  mother  of  the 
gods;  and  by  this  mark  they  were  recognised  and  protected  among  their 
enemies. J  The  Gauls  carried  the  images  from  their  sacred  groves  to 
battle.  The  princes  of  Milan,  on  Hannibal's  descent  into  Italy,  took 
the  ensigns  of  gold  from  the  temple  of  Minerva,  which  ensigns  they  call- 
ed immovable,  and  marched  with  them  against  the  Romans. §  That 
people  did  themselves  retain  something  of  this  ancient  custom;  the 
eagles  and  other  military  ensigns  being  deposited  in  a  sacellum  with  the 
tutelar  gods,  and,  when  displayed,  they  were  placed  together  in  the  same 
rank.  II 

The  Celtic  tribes  of  Britain  had  standards,  or  banners,  figuratively 
termed  sun-beams,  in  the  bardic  poems,  each  leading  chief  being  pro- 
vided with  one.  That  of  Fingal,  of  which  Dr.  Smith,  of  Campbelltown, 
gives  a  description,  was  much  respected  as  the  king's  ensign;  but  the 
flag  of  Diarmid,  who  led  the  right  wing  of  the  army,  seems  to  have  been 
superior. IT  In  the  original  Gaelic,  the  description  of  those  of  the  seven 
principal  chiefs  is  very  particular,  and  "so  inimitably  beautiful,  that  I 
cannot  imagine,"  says  an  intelligent  v/riter,  "how  Mac  Pherson  has 
omitted  it  in  his  translation."** 

The  materials  of  these  banners  it  is  not  easy  to  discover.  In  the  poem 
of  "the  Death  of  Fraoich,"  conjectured  to  be  of  almost  equal  antiquity 
with  Ossian, — bratach  sroil,  a  silken  flag,  is  mentioned,  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  this  be  not  an  interpolation.  It  is  probable  that  the  term 
now  applied  to  silk,  formerly  meant  only  something  of  a  very  fine  tex- 
ture. 

The  Caledonian  chiefs  had  hereditary  standard  bearers,  and  the  office 
was  reckoned  one  of  much  honor,  to  which  a  salary  in  land  and  other 
perquisites  were  attached.  They  continued  to  enjoy  their  trust  and 
emoluments,  under  Sir  Donald  Mac  Donald,  of  Slate,  in  the  last  centu- 
ry, and  were  retained  by  some  chiefs  to  a  more  recent  period.  The 
Celtic  name,  Vergasilanus,  is  Fear  go  saelan,  the  man  with  the  stand- 
ard.   A  superstitious  importance  was,  in  many  cases,  attached'  to  par- 

*  History  of  Britain,  i.  p.  351. 

t  Isidore  calls  that  of  the  Picts  an  infamous  nobility.  t  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ 

§  Polybius,  lib.  ii.  1|  Lipsius  Milit.  Roman,  quoted  by  Gibbon. 

V  Fingal,  book  iv.  **  Letter  of  the  Rev.  Donald  Mac  Leod  to  Dr.  Blair. 


COAT  ARMOR. 


195 


ticular  banners,  which  may  at  first  have  arisen  from  the  religious  venera- 
tion before  alluded  to.  In  the  island  of  Oronsay,  near  the  tomb  of  Mur- 
chard  Mac  Duffaidh,  an  abbot,  who  died  1509,  is,  or  was  lately,  a  long 
pole  fixed  in  memory  of  the  ensign  staff  of  his  family,  on  the  preserva- 
tion of  which  depended  the  fate  of  the  race.  Clan  na  Faiter  held  three 
lands  in  Bracadale,  Isle  of  Skye,  for  preserving  the  Braotach-shi  of  Mac 
Leod,  which,  tradition  asserted,  was  only  to  be  produced  on  three  oc- 
casions. Pennant,  who  relates  this  story,  says  the  third  time  was  to 
preserve  his  own  life;  but  we  are  not  informed  whether  any  other  effect 
was  to  follow  this  last  display.  To  owe  his  life  to  its  appearance,  was 
matter  for  lasting  gratitude  to  the  "fairy  flag." 

The  colors  of  the  ancient  banners,  or  their  devices,  are  not  distinctly 
known.  "  The  dark  wreaths  of  Erin's  standard,"*  the  blended  colors  of 
Mac  Druivel's  bratach,  the  beauteous  green  colored  banner  of  the  King 
of  plains,!  and  the  red  and  green  meteors,  as  others  are  termed,  do  not 
give  a  very  definite  idea  of  their  appearance.  The  banner  of  Gaul,  a 
companion  of  Fingal,  was  called  Briachail  bhrocaill. 

The  Celts  did  not  confine  their  distinguishing  badges  to  their  flags; 
they  had,  we  have  seen,  long  before  the  commencement  of  the  era  of 
Christianity,  depicted  them  on  their  shields.  The  Germans  are  cele- 
brated for  the  taste  with  which  these  were  painted,  the  various  colors 
being  much  admired.  J  Tacitus  speaks  of  the  Arians,  one  of  their  tribes, 
as  having  been  distinguished  by  black  shields,  but  he  describes  them 
generally  as  ornamenting  them  with  figures  of  animals,  bears,  bulls, 
wolves,  deer,  oxen,  horses,  dogs,  and  lynxes,  being  enumerated.  The 
accompanying  print,  engraved  and  colored  from  the  descriptions  in  the 

Notitia  Imperii  "  of  Pancirollus,  and  the  "  Hieroglyphica  "  of  Pierius, 
will  show  that  the  Gallic  and  German  auxiliary  troops  bore  various  de- 
vices on  their  shields,  which  were  certainly,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
coat  armor;  and  in  a  tasteful  arrangement  of  colors  and  design  the  Brit- 
ish legions  did  not  yield  to  their  continental  friends. 

In  the  compositions  of  the  bards  we  often  find  allusion  made  to  paint- 
ed targets.  Sometimes  they  are  called  red,  at  other  times  spotted,  vari- 
ed, or  chequered. § 

It  is  singular  that  the  term  breac,  applied  to  the  party-colored  shield, 
should  be  given  to  the  coat  or  covering  which  became  the  family  recog- 
nisance of  the  Gael! 

In  the  time  of  Spenser,  the  Irish  also  painted  their  round  leathern 
targets  "in  rude  fashion." 

Some  of  the  figures  depicted  on  the  Celtic  shields  bear  a  close  resem- 
blance to  those  in  modern  coat  armor  We  recognise  the  star,  the  gy- 
ron,  the  carbuncle,  the  lozenge,  the  crescent,  the  griflSn,  the  pall,  the 
tressure,  &c.  that  appear  in  forms  as  rude  as  in  many  old  works  on  her- 
aldry. 

*  Darthula.  t  Dargo.  t  Tacitus,  Seneca,  &c. 

§  Drs.  Mac  Queen,  Mac  Pherson,  &c.  &c. 


BADGES. 


In  this  branch  of  the  subject  the  crests  or  badges  of  those  nations 
come  appropriately  under  notice.  That  they  bore  various  figures  on 
their  helmets  has  already  been  shown:  that  they  were  for  tribal  and  pa- 
ternal distinction,  cannot  be  doubted.  Pausanias  informs  us  that  Aris- 
tomencs  bore  an  eagle  displayed,  Agamemnon  a  lion's  head,  Menelaus 
a  dragon,  he.  The  Dacian  symbol  was  also  a  dragon,  and  the  Scy- 
thians, according  to  Guillim,  bore  a  thunderbolt.  The  first  Gauls  who 
exhibited  at  Rome  as  gladiators  had  a  fish  for  their  crest,  and  were 
termed  mirmillones.* 

Badges  were  borne  on  the  helmet,  and  displayed  on  the  shield  and  on 
the  banner;  hence  modern  arms  often  contain  representations  of  those 
things  anciently  carried  as  marks  of  distinction.  Bruce  had  three  holly 
branches,  which  were,  no  doubt,  borne  on  his  ensign,  as  he  bestowed 
them  on  Irvine  of  Drum,  who  was  his  banner  bearer,  and  whose  pos- 
terity still  carry  them.| 

The  lion,  according  to  Gebelin,  was  the  general  badge  of  the  Celtic 
tribes;  the  national  arms  of  Scotland  are,  consequently,  of  great  an- 
tiquity. It  is  true  that  Aldred  describes  the  animal,  at  the  battle  of  the 
Standard,  *'ad  similitudinem  Draconis  figuratim;  "  but  the  rude  form 
might  very  naturally  occasion  the  mistake,  for  it  is  well  known  that  the 
heraldic  figures  had  formerly  extremely  little  resemblance  to  the  real 
objects.  The  science  has  indeed  advanced  in  the  march  of  improve- 
ment, but  it  is  not  long  since  it  was  otherwise.  A  member  of  the  col- 
lege of  arms  once  visited  the  menagerie  in  the  Tower,  where  the  lions 
being  pointed  out  to  him;  "Lions!"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  have  tricked  J 
too  many,  not  to  know  what  like  they  are!"  actually  believing  the  ani- 
mals before  him  were  another  species! 

There  are  many  Scots  families  who  bear  animals,  or  parts  of  them, 
that  are  not  found  in  Britain  or  in  Europe.  It  would  be  a  very  unrea- 
sonable stretch  of  conjecture,  to  fancy  that,  such  as  carry  figures  of 
creatures,  which  although  long  extinct,  are  known  to  have  once  lived 
here,  are  of  so  remote  extraction;  but  may  we  not  be  allowed  to  believe 
that  those  charges  were  derived  from  the  common  practice  of  the  ancient 
Celts?  The  bearing  of  hereditary  arms,  or  marks,  is  usually  derived 
from  the  Goths;  but  do  those  who  say  so,  inquire  from  whom  that  people 
acquired  the  practice?  "  In  Celtic  Scotland,"  says  the  laborious  author 
of  Caledonia,  "no  chivalry,  nor  its  attendant  arms,  were  known  in 
1076.  "§  The  chivalrous  spirit  of  the  Gael  was  always  the  most  striking 
trait  in  their  character,  yet  if  the  science  of  heraldry,  as  refined  by  other 
nations,  was  not  studied  by  the  primitive  race  of  Scots,  it  was  retained 
by  them  in  its  original  simplicity,  and  its  nice  distinctions  and  peculiar 
regulations  were  preserved  with  rigid  exactness. 

In  ancient  families  not  many  instances  occur  where  the  supporters  are 
strange  animals.    The  Highlanders  had  less  fancy  than  others  for  these 


*  Festus.  t  Sir  George  Mac  Kenzie. 

%  A  term  applied  to  arms  that  are  drawn  with  a  pen.       §  Vol.  i.  p.  761. 


BADGES  OR  CRESTS. 


197 


uncouth  defenders  of  their  arms.  At  tournaments  they  let  their  clans- 
men stand  by  their  shields  in  naked  fierceness  or  in  their  native  breacan. 

The  painted  shields,  the  crests,  or  badges,  worn  on  the  head,  the 
standards,  and  strictly  regulated  patterns  of  their  garments,  were  the  in- 
signia by  which  the  Celtic  warrior  was  distinguished  and  his  tribe  recog- 
nised. Of  the  badges,  as  worn  by  the  Scotish  clans,  the  following  is  a 
list,  the  correctness  of  which,  as  far  as  it  extends,  may  be  relied  on. 
For  carrying  these  marks  of  distinction,  after  1745,  some  Frasers  and 
Mac  Kenzies  were  subjected  to  the  penalties  of  the  disarming  act. 

Badges^  or  Sumchejij^ttjis,  of  the  Highland  Clans,  with  the  Gaelic, 
English,  and  botanical  names. 

Buchannan,  —  Dearcag  Monaidh, —  Bilberry, — Vaccinium  uliginosura. 
Cameron,  —  Dearcag  Fithich, —  Crowberry, —  Empitium  nigrum. 
Campbell, — Garbhag  ant-sleibh, —  Fir-club  moss, —  Lycopodium  selago.* 
Chisholm, —  Raineach, —  Fern, —  Filix. 

Colquhon, —  Braoileag  nan  con, — Bearberry, —  Arbutus  uva  ursi. 
Cummin,  —  Lus  mhic  Cuimein, — Cummin  wood, — Cuminum.  • 
Druramond, — Lus  mhic  Righ  breatuinn,  —  Mother  of  thyme, — Thymis 
sirpyllum. 

Fergusson, —  Ros  greine,  —  Little  sunflower, —  Helian  thymum  mari- 
folium. 

Forbes  and  Mac  Aoidh,t — Bealuidh,  or  Bealaidh, — Broom, — Spartium 

scorparium. 
Fraser, — luthar, — Yew, — Taxus  baccata. 

Grant,  Mac  Gregor,  Mac  Kinnon,  and  Mac  Quarie,. — Giuthas, —  Pine, 

—  Pinus  sylvestris. 
Gordon, — ladh  shlat,  Eitheann, — Ivy, — Hedera  helix. 
Graham,  —  Buaidh  craobh,  na  Laibhreas, — Laurel  spurge,  —  Laureola 
Hay, — Uile-ice, — Misletoe, — Viscum  album. 
Logan  and  Sinclair, — Conis, — Whin  or  furze, — Ulex  europaeus. 
Mac  Aulay  and  Mac  Farlane,  —  Muileag,  —  Cranberry,  —  Oxycoccus 

palustris. 

Mac  Donald,  Mac  Alastair,  and  Mac  Nab, —  Fraoch  gorm, —  Common 

heath, —  Erica  vulgaris. 
Mac  Dougal, — Fraoch  dearg, — Bell  heath, — Tetralix. 
Mac  Kenzie  and  Mac  Lean,  — An  Cuilfhionn,  —  Holly,  —  Ilex  aqui- 

folium. 

Mac  Lachlan, —  Faochag,  na  gille-fuinbrinn,  —  Lesser  periwinkle, — 
Pervinca  minor. 

Mac  Leod,  Gunn,  and  Ross, — Aiteann, — Juniper, — Juniperis  communis. 
Mac  Naughtan,  —  Lusan  Albanach,  —  traihng  Azalia,  —  Azalea  pro- 
cumbens. 

Mac  Niel  and  Lamont, — Luibheann, — Dryas, — Octopetala. 

*Many  of  this  name  assert  that  the  Dutch  myrtle,  Roid,  is  the  proper  badge, 
t  Mackay. 


{198 


WAR  CRIES,  OR 


Mac  Pherson,  Mac  Intosh,  Mac  Duff,  Mac  Bean,  Shaw,  Farquharson, 
Mac  Gillivray,  Mac  Queen,  Clark,  Davidson,  Elder,  and  several 
others,  as  branches  of  Clan  Chattan, — Lus  na'n  Craimsheag,  nam 
Braoileag, — Red  whortleberry, — Vaccinium  vitis  idea.* 

Menzies,  —  Fraoch  nam  Meindarach,  —  Menzie  heath,  —  Menziesia 
ccerulea. 

Munro, —  Garbhag  an  gleann,  na  crutal  a  mada  ruadh,  —  Common  club 

moss, — Lycopodium  clavatum. 
Murray  and  Sutherland, — Bealaidh  Chatti, — Butcher's  broom, — ^Ruscus 

occiliatus. 

Ogilvie, — Boglus, — Evergreen  alkanet, — Anchusa. 
Ohphant, — Luachair, — BuUrush, — Scirpus. 

Robertson, — Dluith  fraoch, — Fine  leaved  heath, — Erica  cinerea. 
Rose, — Ros-mairi  fiadhaich, — Wild  rosemary, — Andromeda  Media. 
Stewart,  —  Darach,  —  Oak,  —  Quercus  robur.    They  also  carry  the 

Thistle,  Cuaran,  as  the  national  badge. | 
Urquhart, — Lus-lethn't-samhraidh, — Wallflower, — Cheiranthus. 

•  The  three  pinion  feathers  of  the  native  eagle  is  the  distinguishing 
bsftdge  of  a  Highland  chief,  two  of  a  chieftain,  and  one  of  a  gentleman. 
This  mark  of  nobility  was  well  known  in  the  time  of  Ossian.  Had 
Prince  Charles  succeeded  in  his  enterprise  of  1745,  it  was  intended  to 
institute  a  military  order  of  the  mountain  eagle. 

Connected  with  the  means  of  recognition  by  badges  and  symbols,  war 
CRIES,  or  watch  words,  were  in  use  by  the  Gael,  with  whom  they  were 
fixed,  and  peculiar  to  districts  and  tribes.  The  remarkable  shouting  and 
chanting  of  these  nations  in  making  their  attacks  is  referable  to  this 
custom,  the  particular  exclamation  forming  the  Welsh  Ubub,  the  Irish 
Ullulu,J  and  the  Caledonian  Cathgairm,  or  Slogan.  A  band  of  warriors 
often  used  their  own  name  as  a  war  shout.  One  of  the  Cimbric  nations 
in  the  invasion  of  Italy,  in  this  manner  advanced,  singing  Ambrones! 
Ambrones!  and  the  Scots  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard,  1138,  made  a 
great  shout,  crying  Albani!  Albani!  ^ 

The  names  of  leaders  seem  well  adapted  for  incentives  to  battle  or 
rallying  words  for  combatants.  They  were  used  simply  by  some  as  a 
Douglas!  a  Douglas!  a  Gordon!  a  Gordon!  or  they  were  accompanied 
by  appellations,  as  Hainault  the  valiant!  Milan  the  Noble!  &c.  on  the 
continent.  To  some  again  were  added  expressions  of  incitement,  as 
Avant  Darnly,  by  the  Dukes  of  Lennox.    Rallying  cries  often  refer- 

*  To  avoid  trouble,  the  Box,  from  its  close  resemblance  to  the  above,  was  occasional- 
ly substituted,  whence  arose  a  belief  that  it  was  the  Mac  Intosh  badge.  There  is  also 
an  opinion  among  some  Seanachies,  that  the  Craobh  Aighban,  Boxus  sempervirens,  a 
tree  said  to  be  found  in  the  Highlands,  is  the  true  Suiacheantas. 

t  The  oak  not  being  an  evergreen,  the  Highlanders  look  on  it  as  an  emblem  of  the 
fate  of  the  royal  house.  The  badge  of  the  Pictish  kingdom  was  Rudh,  Rue,  which  ia 
Been  joined  with  the  thistle  in  the  collar  of  the  Order. 

t  The  Greek  Eleleu  and  the  scriptural  Alleluia '.  §  Hoveden 


WATCH  WORDS 


199 


red  to  the  armorial  badge,  as  with  the  Counts  of  Flanders,  who  gave 
au  Lion.  Some,  from  piety,  called  on  the  name  of  their  patron  saints, 
and  many,  from  the  cause  of  strife,  made  use  of  particular  sayings. 

Among  the  Scots'  cries  are  those  of  Buchannan  "  Clareinnis,"  an  Isl- 
and in  Lochjomond. — Campbell,  "  Ben  Cruachan,  a  noted  mountain,  in 
j^rgyle, — Farquharson  "Cairn  na  cuimhne,"  the  cairn  of  remembrance, 
in  Strathdee. — Fraser,  anciently  Morf  haich,"  afterwards  "Castle 
Downie,"  the  family  seat. — Grant,  "Craig  Elachaidh,"  the  rock  of 
alarm,  of  which  there  are  two  in  Strathspey.  The  division  of  this  tribe, - 
called  Clan  Chirin,  have  properly  "  Craig  Ravoch,"  to  which  they  add 
"stand  sure,"  the  others  saying  "stand  fast." — Mac  Donald,  "  Fraoch 
eilan,"  the  Heathy  isle.*— Mac  Farlane  "  Loch  Sloidh,"  the  Lake  of  the 
Host. — Mac  Gregor,  Ard  choille,"t  the  high  wood. — Mac  Intosh, 
"  Lochmoy,"  a  lake  near  the  seat  of  the  chief,  in  Inverness-shire. — Mac- 
kenzie, "  Tulach  ard,"  a  mountain  near  castle  Donnan,  the  ancient  strong 
hold  of  the  clan. — Mac  Pherson,  "  Creag  dhubh  chloinn  Chatain."J 
"Munro,  Casteal  Fulis  na  theinn,"  Foulis  castle  in  danger.  Forbes, 
anciently  Loanach,  a  hill  in  Strathdon.  Clan  Rannald,  "  A  dh'  aindeoin 
cotheireadh  e!  "  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  ^ 

Border  clans,  and  others  now  reckoned  Lowland,  had  also  their  ,  slo- 
gans. The  Maxwells  cried,  I  bid  ye  bide  ward  law,  i.  e.  the  assemblage 
of  the  clan  on  the  hill  of  meeting;  and  the  Logans  rallied  to  the  shout 
of  Lesterrick  low.  The  Scots  of  Buccleuch  had  Ale  muir. — The  John- 
stone's, Light  thieves  all. — The  Mercers  of  Aldie,  the  gryt  pool. — 
Hepburn,  bide  me  fair. — Seton,  set  on. — Cranston,  a  Henwoodie,  Sec. 
Certain  districts  had  also  their  appropriate  places  of  rendezvous,  the 
name  of  which  sounded  an  immediate  alarm.  The  people  of  Glen-livet, 
in  Banffshire,  had  Bochail,  a  well  known  hill.  Where  Celtic  institutions 
prevailed,  these  names  became  the  fixed  war  cry,  which  was  not  confin- 
ed to  the  period  of  mustering,  but  continued  as  the  mode  of  recognition 
and  intimation  of  danger,  during  war. 

The  French  had  anciently  "Monte  joye,  St.  Denis,"  which  was 
changed  to  "  Tue!  Tue!  "  The  kings  of  Scotland  used,  as  the  general 
exclamation,  "  St.  Andrew."  The  ancient  Irish  had  "  Farrah!  Farrah!" 
which  is  stated  to  be  farrach,  violence,  but  is  rather  "Faire!"  be 
watchful.  It  was  customary  with  the  Gael  of  that  country  to  add  the 
interjection  bua,  or  abu,  to  their  particular  cries,  which  is  said  to  be 
equivalent  to  business  or  cause,  as  Butler  abu,  the  cause  of  Butler. 
This  interpretation  is  made  in  the  same  ignorance  of  Gaelic  which  is 
seen  in  that  of  the  motto  of  the  Earls  of  Kildare,  now  of  the  Duke  of 
Leinster,  so  often  denounced  by  the  Anglo  Irish  parliament  as  the 
watchword  of  rebellion.  Crom-aboo  is  translated,  I.  burn:  it  is  Cuiram- 
buaidh,  I  shall  obtain  the  victory.    The  O'Neals  had  Lamh  dearg,  abu, 

*  Craig  an  Fhithich,  the  Raven's  rock,  is  claimed  as  the  peculiar  slogan  of  those  who 
call  themselves  Mac  Donel. 

i  Ard  Challich,  Chalmers.  t  Seal  of  the  present  chief. 


200 


FIRST  WEAPONS  OF  MANKIND 


the  red  hand,  victorious! — O'Briens,  Mac  Carthys  and  Fitz  Maurices, 
Lamh-laider  abu,  the  strong  hand  of  victory. — O'Carrol,  Shuat-abu,  stir 
to  victory. — O'SuUivan,  Fustina  stelli  abu,  (Fostadh  steille,)  stoutly 
securing  victory. — Clanriccard,  (the  Bourks)  Galriagh-abu,  victory  to 
the  red  Englishman,  from  the  second  Earl  of  Ulster,  Richard  de  Burgo, 
called  the  red.  Earls  of  Desmond  Shannet-abu. — Mac  Gilpatrick, 
Gearlaider-abu,  cut  strong  to  victory. — Mac  Swein,  Battalia-abu,  the 
noble  staff,  victorious,  from  the  battle-axe  which  they  bear  in  their  arms. 
— The  Knight  of  Kerry,  Farreboy-abu !  the  yellow-haired  men — victory! 
Fleming,  Teine-ar  aghein-abu,  fire  to  the  bomb, — victory! — Hiffernan, 
Ceart  na  suas  abu,  right  and  victory  from  above. — Hussey,  Gordereagh- 
abu,  hand  in  hand  to  victory. 

War  cries  were  anciently  used  by  none  but  princes  or  commanders. 
They  were  proclaimed  at  tournaments  by  heralds,  and  became  the  mot- 
toes of  famihes.  One  of  the  oldest  in  record  is  that  of  Gaul  Mac  Morn, 
"  First  to  come  and  last  to  go." 

The  effect  of  the  ancient  rallying  shout  is  still  strong  in  the  north  of 
Scotland.  The  exclamation  of  Cairn  na  cuimne!  is  yet  sufficient  to 
collect  the  Dee  side  men  to  the  assistance  of  their  friends  in  any  brawl 
at  a  market  or  otherwise.  A  friend  informed  me  that,  passing  through 
the  braes  of  Moray,  he  suddenly  heard  the  shout  Craig  elachie,  stand 
fast!  and  could  perceive  many  people  hastening  towards  a  certain  point. 
On  inquiry  he  found  that  a  fair  was  held  at  a  little  distance  in  which 
the  Grants  had  got  involved  in  a  quarrel  with  their  neighbors. 

The  most  savage  of  human  beings  are  found  able  to  fabricate  rude 
implements  wherewith  to  procure  game  for  subsistence,  or  as  a  means 
of  protection  against  the  attacks  of  ferocious  animals.  From  the  neces- 
sity also  of  resisting  the  aggressions  of  neighboring  tribes,  much  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  the  formation  of  instruments  of  destruction  and  defence. 
As  mankind  advance  in  civilisation,  their  ingenuity  in  all  manufactures, 
both  necessary  and  ornamental,  increase;  but  nations  become  sooner 
proficient  in  the  construction  of  implements  of  war  than  of  those  used 
for  any  other  purpose.  In  the  armies  of  nations  that  have  not  emerged 
from  the  first  stages  of  society,  each  individual  is  obliged  to  provide 
himself  with  such  weapons  as  he  can  most  readily  procure,  and,  on 
emergencies,  other  articles  than  regular  arms  are  converted  into  instru- 
ments of  destruction. 

A  simple,  ready,  and  sometimes  an  efl^ective  mode  of  assailing  an 
enemy,  is  by  means  of  stones  thrown  by  hand,  a  method  of  fighting  much 
practised  by  the  Celtic  nations,  who  had  numerous  bodies  of  troops  so 
armed.  Many  figures  of  these  people  in  Roman  sculpture  show  the 
warriors  carrying  a  number  of  stones  in  the  loose  folds  of  their  ample 
cloaks,  and  Ammianus  bears  record  to  their  violent  and  destructive  as- 
saults.*   From  Tacitus  it  appears  the  Germans  sometimes  used  leaden 

*  Montfaucon,  torn.  iv.  pi.  52,  &c.  To  drop  stones  on  besiegers  has  been  oflen 
oractised. 


SLINGS.— CLUBS. 


201 


balls  as  missiles.*  Round  stones  in  shape  like  an  egg,  and  some  larger 
and  of  the  same  globular  form,  have  been  found  in  France,  which  it  is 
supposed  were  used  for  throwing  by  the  early  inhabitants.! 

The  Irish,  until  comparatively  recent  times,  continued  this  primitive 
mode  of  fighting,  at  which  Cambrensis  says  they  were  extremely  dex- 
terous. 

Besides  projecting  stones  by  hand,  slings  were  also  used.  The  in- 
habitants of  the  Balearic  isles,  who  were  of  Celtic  origin,  were  the  most 
famous  slingers  of  antiquity,  and  are  believed  to  have  acquired  their 
name  from  this  celebrity.  They  carried  three  sUngs,  one  being  tied 
round  the  head,  another  fastened  about  the  middle,  and  one  held  in  the 
hand.  They  were  excellent  marksmen,  and  could  throw  stones  of  three 
pounds  weight  to  a  great  distance.J  The  sling  represented  in  the  fig- 
ures of  ancient  sculpture  is  plaited  in  the  middle,  where  it  is  considera- 
bly thicker  than  at  each  end.  Cliar,  now  applied  to  a  brave  man,  is  an 
ancient  Gaelic  term  for  a  sling, ^  but  Tabhal  is  the  word  now  used.  At 
the  battle  of  Largs,  in  1263,  the  Scots  commenced  a  furious  attack  with 
stones  and  darts.  The  British  tribes  used  a  sling  with  a  wooden  shaft, 
like  those  used  afterwards  by  the  Saxons,  which  was  called  crann  tab- 
huil,  the  staff-sling. — The  has  relief  at  the  commencement  of  Chapter 
first,  composed  from  figures  on  Trajan's  column,  shows  the  Celtic  throw- 
ers of  stones,  both  by  hand  and  sling. 

A  CLUB  is  another  simple  implement  of  destruction.  In  cases  of  ne- 
cessity, combatants  will  avail  themselves  of  any  thing  that  can  be  con- 
verted into  arms,  and,  at  all  times,  those  who  can  find  nothing  better  will 
provide  themselves  with  a  good  stick.  Three  or  four  hundred  of  the 
king's  army  went  to  the  battle  of  Edgehill  with  nothing  but  a  cudgel. || 
When  the  Highlanders  joined  Prince  Charles,  when  they  fought  at 
Gladsmuir  and  even  afterwards,  many  had  no  better  weapon,  but 

"  With  heavy  cudgels  of  good  oak. 
They  vowed  to  kill  at  every  stroke." 

The  Gauls,  long  after  their  subjugation,  continued  to  fight  with  this 
weapon,  and  on  various  remains  of  Roman  architecture,  figures  of  these 
nations  are  seen  wielding  with  vigorous  arms,  heavy  knotted  cudgels. IT 
The  ^stii,  one  of  their  tribes,  had  scarcely  any  arms  of  iron,  but  chiefly 
fought  with  clubs,  which  were  hardened  by  being  burned.**  From  dis- 
coveries made  in  France  they  are  found  to  have  been  short  and  thick, 
and  sometimes  pointed  with  metal.  The  club  of  the  old  Britons  here 
represented  was  four-edged,  of  massy  thickness  at  the  end,  and  was  call- 
ed Cat.ft  The  Jedworth  staff,  pointed  with  iron,  which  Major  describes, 
was  a  serviceable  weapon  to  the  hardy  inhabitants  of  that  border  town.Jf 

*  Annals,  v.  t  Montfaucon.  t  Diod.  Sic.  v. 

§  Urnigh  Ossian,  a  poem.  ||  Clarendon,  ii,  p.  40,  ed.  Oxford, 

IT  Montfaucon,  pi.  55,  56,  &c.    A  club  is  by  no  means  a  contemptible  weapon. 
We  even  read  of  desperate  fighting  with  teeth  and  nails  !    Beloe's  Herodotus,  iv.  153 
**  Tacitus  Annals.  tt  Dr.  Meyrick.  tt  Lib.  v.  ft  3 

26 


203 


CELTS. 


It  would  appear  from  Tacitns,  that  the  Catti,  besides  their  other  arms, 
carried  certain  iron  instruments. 

The  arms  of  the  ancient  Gauls,  and  of  the  British  tribes;  have  been 
found  deposited  in  the  grave  with  the  mouldering  relics  of  their  original 
owner,  or  dug  from  the  site  of  the  Celtic  strong  holds.  They  are  often 
discovered  to  reward  the  laborious  researches  of  the  zealous  antiquary, 
and  are  not  unfrequently  turned  up  by  the  plough  or  spade  of  the  indus- 
trious husbandman. 

The  first  implements  of  untutored  man  are  formed  of  stone,  a  material 
which  is  often  moulded  into  suitable  form  with  the  nicest  care. 

The  simple,  and  sometimes  rude,  but  frequently  ingeniously  fabricated 
weapons  of  the  aboriginal  Celt,  are  found  in  all  those  countries  which 
he  inhabited;  and  along  with  those  formed  of  stone  are  occasionally  dis- 
covered articles  of  bone,  in  some  cases  perforated,  and  evidently  adapted 
for  purposes  of  war.* 

A  singular  implement  frequently  met  with  throughout  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, has  attracted  the  particular  attention  of  antiquaries,  who  have  been 
at  some  loss  to  conceive  the  use  for  which  these  mysterious  articles  were 
intended.  They  are  not  exclusively  formed  of  stone,  but  are  also  found 
of  brass,  or  mixed  metal;  the  presumption,  however  must  be,  that  the 
former  are  most  ancient,  although  the  manufacture  may  not  have  been 
given  up  after  the  working  of  metal  became  generally  practised.  The 
name  of  Celts,  by  which  they  are  known,  has  itself  excited  many  con- 
jectures. It  is  supposed  to  have  been  adopted  by  antiquaries  for  want 
of  any  more  appropriate  term;  but  is,  probably,  according  to  Whita- 
ker,  the  British  word  Celt,  which  signifies  a  flint  stone.  They  are  gen- 
erally about  five  inches  long  and  one  or  more  broad,  are  sometimes  very 
plain,  and  in  many  instances  are  formed  with  much  ingenuity.  The 
most  simple  are  merely  tapered  towards  each  end,  but  others  are  varied 
in  shape,  and  nicely  perforated  for  the  insertion  of  a  handle,  which  was 
perhaps  secured  by  small  wedges. 

It  has  been  imagined  that  Celts  were  used  in  the  Druidic  sacrifices; 
and  it  has  been  observed  from  Livy,  that  even  the  Romans,  in  early 
ages,  killed  their  victims  with  flint  stones.*!* 

It  has  also  been  said  that  they  were  used  as  implements  of  carpentry, 
which  is  not  only  probable,  but  some  positive  proof  of  the  fact  has  been 

*  Hoare's  Ancient  Wiltshire  ;  Archaeologia,  &c. 

t  Lib.  xxiv,  Ap.  the  Rev.  J.  Dow  in  Trans,  of  the  Ant.  of  Scotland,  ii.  199. 


AXES. 


discovered.  A  writer  in  the  "  Archaeologia,"  on  this  subject,  has  ac- 
companied his  remarks  with  representations  of  a  Celt  fixed  in  the  han- 
dle when  employed  for  the  different  uses  of  an  axe,  a  chisel,  and  an 
adze.*  Their  appropriation  for  domestic  purposes  is  perfectly  consistent 
with  their  use  in  battle.  With  them  the  natives  must  have  cut  down  the 
trees  of  the  forest,  on  the  trunks  of  which  the  marks  are  often  discerni- 
ble, for  no  other  description  of  axe  has  ever  been  discovered.  In  the 
vignette  at  the  end  of  Chapter  III,  some  of  these  implements  are  repre- 
sented, in  the  form  in  which  they  were  evidently  used  by  the  ancient 
wood-hewers  and  carpenters.  The  one  on  the  left  side  shows  the  method 
by  which  the  most  simple  form,  both  in  stone  and  metal,  was  used.  Be- 
sides the  ligature,  a  slight  ridge  may  be  observed  on  some,  apparently  to 
prevent  their  being  forced  out  of  their  proper  position. 

In  the  more  improved  manufacture  of  metal  Celts,  which  are  common 
to  North  and  South  Britain,  they  are  formed  with  a  hollow  for  the  in- 
sertion of  the  handle,  and,  in  several  instances,  part  of  the  wood  has 
been  found  remaining  in  the  socket.!  From  this  circumstance,  and 
their  peculiar  formation,  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  shaft  and  blade 
were  in  a  line,  making,  as  it  were,  a  bludgeon;  |  but  was  it  not  possible 
for  the  Celtic  warrior  to  find  boughs  of  trees  bent  naturally  to  a  right 
angle,  or  that  could  be  readily  made  so  and  adopted  as  an  efficient  handle? 

The  lower  figure  on  the  dexter  side  of  the  trophy,  forming  the  vignette 
to  this  Chapter,  represents  the  method  in  which  it  is  believed  to  have 
been  fixed  when  used  as  an  axe.  The  metal  Celts  are  usually  provided 
with  a  ring,  as  represented  in  the  engraving,  supposed  to  have  been  for 
the  purpose  of  suspending  them  by  the  side  or  over  the  shoulder.  They 
are  often  found  with  a  mould,  or  case,  into  which  they  exactly  fit,  which 
was  either  adopted  for  their  preservation,  the  mould  in  which  they  were 
formed,  or  itself  adapted  for  service.  It  has,  iiowever,  been  observed 
that  all  brazen  instruments,  from  their  value,  were  kept  in  cases  of  wood 
lined  with  cloth.  Celts  have  also,  not  unfrequently,  a  ring  attached,  with 
sometimes  a  bit  of  jet  or  other  ornament  appended. 

In  some  tumuli  that  were  opened  near  the  Cree,  in  the  parish  of  Mon- 
igaflr,  where,  according  to  tradition,  the  Picts  and  Romans  had  fought  a 
severe  battle,  several  stone  Celts  were  found.  One  was  in  the  form  of 
a  hatchet,  and  resembles  a  pavior's  hammer  in  the  back  part,  like  the  one 
represented  in  the  engraving,  and  another  was  broad  and  flat,  both  hav- 
ing an  aperture  for  the  shaft.  J  It  may  be  observed  that  not  only  are 
many  of  these  implements  formed  at  one  end  like  the  above,  but  hammers 
are  often  found  buried  with  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  these  Islands. 
The  Gauls  consigned  similar  articles  to  the  graves  of  their  relatives,  and 
in  several  sculptures  they  are  represented  carrying  them  in  their  hands.^ 

There  is  no  very  positive  authority  to  believe  that  the  axe  was  a  weap- 


*  Vol.  xix.  t  Whitaker's  Hist,  of  Manchester,  &c. 

t  Stat.  Acc.  vii.  60,  xvi.  227,  xviii.  186,  &c.  See  also  Gordon's  Itin.  Septentrionale. 
ArchsBologia.  xvii.  120,  &c.  §  See  the  plate. 


204 


LOCHABER  AXE. 


on  in  common  use,  either  by  the  Continental  or  British  Celts,  but  Mar- 
cellinus  speaks  of  it  as  carried  by  the  former,  and  in  538  the  Franks 
used  it.  By  the  Welsh,  when  formed  of  flint,  it  was  called  Bwyelt-arv. 
In  a  Teutonic  romance  of  the  eighth  centtuy,  it  is  said  that  after  the 
javelins  had  been  thrown,  "they  thrust  together  resounding  stone  axes." 
The  word  used  for  these  is  stain  bort,  from  stein,  a  stone,  and  barte,  an 
axe,  and  it  is  thought  to  be  the  only,  name  by  which  they  are  recorded.* 

Hengist,  the  Saxon,  calls  a  sword  an  axe."j"  Among  the  Danes,  who 
used  it  double,  it  was  called  bye,  and  when  fixed  to  a  long  staff,  it  is  said 
to  have  acquired  the  name  of  all  bard,  or  cleave  all. 

This  weapon,  when  used  by  the  Highlanders,  was  known  as  the  Loch- 
aber  axe,  called,  in  Gaelic,  tuagh-chatha.  The  heavy  armed  soldier  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland  carried  it,  until  very  lately,  from  whom  it  was  call- 
ed the  Galloglach  axe.  It  was  usually  mounted  on  a  staff  about  five 
feet  long,  but  another  sort  was  wielded  with  one  hand,  the  thumb  being 
extended  along  the  shaft,  and  so  forcibly  that  no  mail  could  resist  it.  In 
the  Tower  of  London  were  formerly  shown  some  weapons  called  Locha- 
ber  axes;  but  since  the  recent  excellent  arrangements  of  Dr.  Meyrick, 
it  appears  they  were  English  arms,  no  real  Lochaber  axes  being  in  the 
armory.  They  are,  indeed,  unaccountably  rare.  One,  in  this  gentle- 
man's admirable  collection,  is  of  a  ruder  form  than  the  one  here  repre- 
sented. 


The  figure  on  the  right  is  from  the  axes  formerly  borne  by  the  town 
'guard  of  Edinburgh,  that  in  the  middle  from  those  of  old  Aberdeen,  and 
the  other  is  an  ancient  form  of  the  Highland  tuagh. 


*  A  reprint  by  Dr.  Jaraieson  in  a  work  on  Northern  Antiquities.  Edinb.  Journal  of 
Science,  Nov.  1824.  t  Jamieson's  Remarks  on  the  Pictish  language. 


SPEARS. 


205 


Two  soldiers  of  the  Black  watch  fought  with  this  weapon  before  King 
George,  so  late  as  1743. 

The  SPEAR  of  the  Gauls  was  called  Saunia.  It  is  described  as  being 
pointed  with  iron,  a  cubit  or  more  in  length,  and  little  less  than  two 
hands  in  breadth.  This  weapon  was  sometimes  straight,  and  sometimes 
barbed  or  bent  backwards,  so  that  it  not  only  cut  the  flesh,  but  broke  it, 
tearing  and  rending  it  in  a  shocking  manner.* 

Tacitus  says  the  German  spear  was  very  long,  but  was  not  often  used, 
a  light  missile  javelin,  with  a  short,  narrow,  but  sharp  head,  being  pre- 
ferred, of  which  the  horsemen  carried  one,  and  the  infantry  two  or  more. 
With  these  they  fought  either  hand  to  hand,  or  farther  apart,  for  they 
were  accustomed  to  throw  them  to  an  incredible  distance,  with  the 
surest  aim.  The  Celtiberians  had  their  javelins  formed  of  iron,  with 
broad  barbed  points.  The  Lusitani,  who  used  the  same  weapon,  are 
celebrated  for  the  vigor  and  precision  with  which  they  threw  it.* 

The  Celtic  race  appear  to  have  been  remarkably  dexterous  in  the 
management  of  their  airm  thilgidh,  or  missiles.  The  Romans  were  ex- 
cessively  annoyed  by  these  weapons,  which  were  sometimes  showered 
upon  them  in  volleys  as  thick  as  a  flight  of  arrows.  The  vigorous  arms 
of  the  Gauls  propelled  their  lances  with  so  much  force,  as  often  to  pierce 
through  the  shield  and  transfix  them  in  the  body.  CjBsar  mentions  an 
instance  of  the  strength  with  which  they  were  discharged,  where  a 
Roman  soldier  had  one  driven  fairly  through  both  thighs  ! 

A  Gallic  spear,  or  dart,  was  called  Lankia,|  from  which  the  old 
Gaelic,  lann,  a  pike,  and  the  English  lance  are  derived.  The  gsesum, 
gaison,  or  gesa,  was  another  missile  weapon  of  the  Gauls; J  and,  in  the 
language  of  their  Scotish  descendants,  the  word  gais  is  still  retained. 
Servius  informs  iis  that  strong  and  valiant  men,  from  carrying  this  sort 
of  spear,  were  called  gaesi.  Among  the  Highlanders,  gaisgeach  signi- 
fies a  valiant  man,  or  hero,  and .  guasdewr,  among  the  Cumri  of  Wales, 
has  the  same  meaning.  Livy  describes  the  Gauls  as  armed  with  two 
gaesi.    The  Celtic  heroes  of  Caledonia  also  carried  two.§ 

The  gath,  or  cath,  of  the  Gael  signifies  a  dart  or  lance.  The  cateia 
of  the  Gauls  was  a  sort  of  weapon  which  commentators  do  not  appear 
to  have  understood.  Cath-tei,  in  Gaelic,  is  literally  a  fiery  dart,  with 
which  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  remarks  that  Cuchullin  is  said  to  have  unfor- 
tunately killed  his  friend  Ferda.  It  was  "kindled  into  a  devouring 
flame  by  the  strength  of  wind,"  i.  e.  the  blacksmith's  bellows,  the  terms 
gath  builg  and  craosach  dhearg,  being  of  the  same  import  as  the  jacu- 
lum  fervefactum  of  Caesar, |1  which  were  thrown  against  the  Romans  in 
an  attack  on  the  camp  of  Cicero.  The  old  Highlanders  used  a  sort  of 
barbed  dart,  which  they  called  guain.U 

*  Diodorus.  t  Ibid.   Lancea,  a  Spanish  lance.       t  Caesar,  iii.  c.  4 

§  Cuchullin  was  so  armed  ;  and  Naos,  "  looked  on  his  two  spears,"  &c. 
H  Dissertations,  p.  153. 

^  Kennedy,  in  the  H.  Society's  Rep.  on  Ossian's  Poems,  p.  125. 


206 


SPEARS. 


The  Caledonians  and  Meatae  had  a  short  spear,  provided  with  a  hol- 
low ball  of  brass,  like  an  apple,  attached  to  the  end  of  the  shaft,  which 
contained  pebbles,  or  bits  of  metal,  that  were  intended,  by  their  rattling 
noise,  to  frighten  the  horses  and  alarm  the  riders.*  In  1547,  a  French- 
man describes  the  Scots'  soldiers  as  carrying  a  singular  weapon,  for 
the  same  purpose,  "  Tenoient  a  la  main  un  epouvantail  ridicule  pour 
affrayer  les  chevaux.  Cetoit  une  sonette  attache  a  un  baton  de  trois 
aunes  de  long,  avec  quoi  ils  faisoient  grand  bruit."  Dr.  Mac  Pherson 
spoke  with  some  old  Highlanders,  who  had,  in  their  youth,  seen  spears, 
having  a  ball  at  the  end,  resembling  the  boss  of  a  shield,  and  termed 
cnapstarra.  Those  weapons  were  called  triniframma,  and  were  the  fra- 
mea  of  the  Germans,  mentioned  by  Tacitus. 

The  Celts  generally  carried  the  spear  of  a  considerable  length.  Brit- 
annia is  represented  on  Roman  coins  with  one  of  this  description.  The 
Welsh,  according  to  Cambrensis,  bore  lances  of  great  length;  but  those 
of  the  Scots  were  far  longer.  In  the  reign  of  James  III.,  an  act  was 
passed,  ''that  a'  speares  be  sex  elnes  in  length."  At  this  time,  the 
Annan  and  Liddisdale  men  carried  them  two  ells  longer  than  the  rest 
of  their  countrymen.| 

The  Scotish  spearmen  were,  like  the  Macedonian  phalanx,  a  most 
formidable  body.  On  level  ground,  where  they  could  act  with  effect, 
their  irresistible  charge  was  sufficient  to  clear  the  field  of  the  enemy. 


The  lance  of  the  British  tribes  was  usually  pointed  with  brass  or  cop- 
per. The  broad-edged  form  was  called  Llavnawr,  and  is  that  which  the 
Irish  term  the  Lagean,  from  which  the  people  of  Leinster  are  said  to 
have  acquired  the  name  of  Lagenians.  The  spear  is  called  shleag  by 
the  Gael,  and  it  had  formerly  a  thong  attached,  to  enable  them  to  recov- 
er it  when  thrown  at  the  enemy.  Gisarming,  from  the  French  gisarme, 
was  formerly  applied  by  the  Scots  to  the  spear.  The  short  dart,  appa- 
rently about  three  and  a  half  feet  long,  used  by  the  Gauls  in  hunting, 


Dio.  Nicaeus. 


t  Sir  W.  Scott. 


SWORDS 


207 


was  called  venabulum,  which  lexicographers  translate  a  boar's  spear. 
The  Celtic  spears  were  of  various  forms,  and  used  for  different  purposes. 
Gildas  describes  the  Caledonians  as  pulling  the  Roman  soldiers  off  the 
praetentures  with  a  sort  of  long  hooked  spears.  The  two  lateral  weap- 
ons in  the  preceding  cut  are  seen  in  a  representation  of  Porevith,  the 
German  God  of  Spoil.*  The  upper  figure  is  the  venabulum.  The  second 
is  the  saunia,  according  to  Cluverius;  Lenoir,  more  agreeable  to  its 
description,  has  the  barbs  turned  back.  The  two  others  are  from  dis- 
coveries in  Britain,!  the  next  is  the  Llavnawr,  and  the  last  the  gwaefon 
of  the  Welsh. 

In  the  vignette  at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  beginning  at  the 
weapon  next  to  the  Celt,  or  axe,  all  are  taken  from  the  plates  in  the 
work  of  that  laborious  antiquary,  Wolfgang,  already  quoted.  He  says, 
the  first  singular  weapon  was  carried  by  the  Gallic  horsemen  in  Illyri- 
cum;  the  one  above  it  is  the  ggesum;  the  next  is  hasta  uncata  gothica, 
and  the  one  close  to  the  helmet  he  calls  gesa.  The  spear  on  the  left 
side  of  the  helmet  he  assigns  to  the  Quadi,  and  that  next  to  it  is  given  as 
in  use  by  both  Gauls  and  Goths.  The  Tragula  GalHca  is  the  next,  and 
a  murderous  weapon  borne  by  the  Vandals  follows.  The  trident  he 
denominates  the  Gallic  fork. 

The  Caledonians  of  former  ages  paid  great  attention  to  the  exercise 
of  the  spear,  or  the  thrusting  of  the  blade. J  We  hear  of  Conloch,  who 
was  so  famous  for  handling  the  javelin,  that  it  is  yet  said  of  a  good 
marksman,  "  he  is  unerring  as  the  arm  of  Conloch."  The  halbert  car- 
ried by  the  sergeants  in  infantry  regiments,  is  derived  from  the  Scots; 
but  the  Highlanders  have  long  discontinued  its  use.  In  1745,  when  ne- 
cessity compelled  them  to  adopt  any  sort  of  arms.  Captain  Mac  Gregor, 
a  son  of  Rob  Roy,  serving  under  the  Duke  of  Perth,  armed  his  compa 
ny  with  blades  of  scythes,  Sec.  sharpened,  and  fixed  on  poles  seven  or 
eight  feet  long;  and,  rude  as  these  weapons  were,  they  did  murderous 
execution,  for  both  horses  and  men  were  cut  in  two  by  them. 

We  find  frequent  mention  by  the  bards,  of  "ashen"  and  "aspen" 
spears.  In  the  Romance  before  quoted,  it  is  said  "they  first  let  ashen 
spears  fly  with  such  rapid  force,  that  they  stuck  in  the  shields.  "§  One 
Peter  Gairden,  a  native  of  Brae  Mar,  who  died  in  1775,  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two,  recollected  having  been  sent  into  the  woods 
to  cut  straight  poles  for  spear  shafts. 

A  Gallic  dart  was  long  the  only  reward  for  valor  among  the  Romans. 
A  soldier  that  had  wounded  an  enemy  received  one  of  these  weapons 
from  the  consul. |] 

The  SWORD  appears  to  have  been  a  common  weapon  of  the  Celtic  na- 
tions. The  Gallo-Grecians,  who  were  attacked  by  Manlius,  had  no  other 
arms. IT    It  was  of  great  length  and  breadth,  double-edged,  with  a  very 

*  Montfaucon,  &c.  t  ArchsBologia. 

t  Lann-saich,  a  pike-man,  hterally  a  blade  thruster.  §  See  p.  304. 

II  Polybius.  IT  Livy,  xxxviii.  21. 


208 


SWORDS. 


obtuse  point.  Diodorus  says  the  swords  of  the  Gauls  were  as  big  as  the 
saunians  or  spears  of  other  nations.  Being  without  a  point,  they  were 
adapted  for  slashing  with  the  edges,  and  not  for  thrusting,  its  name  be- 
ing expressive  of  its  form  and  use.  The  Celts  called  their  sword  patha, 
or  spada,  which,  in  Gaelic,  signifies  to  beat  down  or  flatten.  This  word 
is  not  now  used  for  a  sword,  but  spad  is  applied  to  any  implement,  or 
broad  piece  of  metal,  and  is  the  origin  of  the  English  spade,  for  which 
it  is  the  only  name.  The  Highlanders  sometimes  call  a  sword  lann, 
literally  a  blade.*  Claidheamh  is  the  proper  name,  and  claoidh  is  to 
vanquish.  Varro  derives  the  Roman  gladius  from  clades,  slaughter:  the 
affinity  of  the  Gaelic  and  Latin  is  apparent. 

The  British  Celts  used  the  same  long,  blunt,  two-edged  sword.  They 
have  been  discovered  in  barrows,  and  a  figure  dug  up  after  the  fire  of 
London  carried  one;  but  the  Northern  tribes  seem  to  have  been  most 
partial  to  it.  The  usual  length  appears  to  be  about  two  feet  six  inches, 
but  they  are  often  much  shorter.  A  common  form  of  this  weapon  among 
the  Britons  of  the  South,  was  with  a  swell  or  widening  in  the  middle. 
The  Irish  also  had  them  both  curved  and  straight. 


The  ancient  British  and  Irish  swords  were  generally  composed  of 
brass,  bronze,  or  copper;  but  it  has  been  erroneously  supposed  that  all 
arms  found  of  these  materials  are  Celtic,  from  a  belief  that  the  use  of 
iron  was  known  to  the  Romans  only.  The  first  metal  employed  by 
mankind  in  the  formation  of  arms,  is  brass,  copper,  or  a  mixture  of  these 
with  lead.  These  seem  to  have  been  the  favorite  metals  of  the  Celts, 
who  had  an  art  of  rendering  them  perfectly  hard.  Considerable  quan- 
tities of  brass  and  copper  were  imported  by  the  Britons;  but  iron  mines 
were  worked  to  a  certain  extent  before  the  arrival  of  the  Romans.  From 
its  scarcity,  and  the  difficulty  of  worJcing  this  metal,  it  was  very  valua- 
ble; but  the  natives  certainly  fabricated  arms  of  it.  Herodian  attests 
this  fact;  and  at  Lochenlour,  in  Glenturret,  are  to  be  seen  the  ruins  of 
houses,  and  heaps  of  ashes,  the  apparent  remains  of  a  Caledonian  iron- 
work. The  people  believe  it  to  be  the  place  where  the  swords  of  the 
Fingalians  were  made,  and  old  poems  mention  this  glen  as  the  residence 
of  the  workmen. 

The  Gallic  sword  is  represented  as  very  insufficiently  tempered,  being 
bent  and  twisted  after  every  stroke,  so  that  it  was  sometimes  necessary 
for  the  warriors  to  set  their  feet  on  the  blade,  in  order  to  make  it 
straight.!    The  Celtiberians  were,  however,  famous  for  the  manner  in 

*  The  Dacian  sword  was  formed  like  a  sabre,  the  curve  reversed.  The  Saxons  and 
Danes  called  the  sword  saex,  and  it  resembled  a  scythe,  which  in  Saxony  is  still  de- 
nominated sais. 

t  Livy.  This  is,  perhaps,  exaggerated;  the  swords  of  the  Romans  were  sometimes 
bent  by  the  resistance  of  the  enemies'  armor.    Amm.  Mar. 


SWORDS. 


909 


which  they  tempered  their  swords.  This  excellence  was  produced  by 
burying  the  iron,  and  allowing  it  to  remain  in  the  earth  until  the  light  and 
impure  parts  were  consumed,  when  the  remainder,  thus  improved,  was 
fit  for  the  hands  of  the  armorer.  Weapons  fabricated  from  iron  prepar- 
ed in  this  manner,  cut  so  keenly,  that  neither  shield,  helmet  nor  bone, 
could  resist  them.*  Those  people  are  said  to  have  carried  two  swords, 
which  enabled  "the  horsemen,  when  they  had  routed  the  enemy,  to 
alight,  and  fight  with  the  foot  to  admiration."  This  seems  to  show  that 
one  was  a  dagger  or  pugio,  adapted  for  thrusting  or  cutting,  which  Po- 
lybius  tells  us  they  used  in  the  battle  of  Cannce.  It  was  common  to  the 
Lusitani,  and  its  excellence  recommended  it  to  Roman  adoption. f  Some 
of  the  Germans  also  had  short  swords;  but  they  in  general  appear  to 
have  preferred  the  missive  javelin. 

By  the  ancient  Welsh  laws,  a  sword,  a  spear,  and  a  bow  with  twelve 
arrows,  were  the  three  legal  weapons.  If  the  former  had  a  bright  hilt, 
its  price  was  twenty-four  pence;  if  brittle-edged,  sixteen  pence,  and  if  it 
was  round  hilted  it  cost  but  twelve  pence.  Dr.  Meyrick  supposes  the 
hilts  were  formed  of  horn.  In  several  parts  of  France,  round  flint 
stones,  pierced  in  the  centre,  are  found,  and  are  believed  by  antiquaries 
to  have  been  sword  pommels. 

Boemus  remarks  that  the  old  Gauls,  like  the  Irish,  used  swords  a  full 
hand  broad.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  original  name  for  these  weap- 
ons was  descriptive  of  their  breadth,  which  exceeded  that  of  spear  heads, 
and  was  particularly  noticed  by  the  ancients.  A  strong  man  among  the 
Caledonians  was  indicated  by  the  size  of  his  sword.  Fraoch,  a  cele- 
brated hero,  is  represented  as  carrying  one  as  wide  as  the  plank  of  a 
ship. 

This  unwieldy  weapon  was  not  adapted  for  a  close  encounter;  but  the 
athletic  swordsman  could,  at  a  requisite  distance,  strike  with  tremendous 
force;  he  therefore  stepped  back,  if  practicable,  when  aiming  a  blow. 
Polybius  observes,  that  the  length  of  the  Gallic  swords,  and  the  blunt- 
ness  of  their  points,  proved  very  disadvantageous  when  they  contended 
with  the  Romans  at  Cannee  and  Telamon.  It  was  the  long  swords  of 
the  brave  Caledonians  which  rendered  them  unable  to  oppose  the  Tun- 
grian  and  Batavian  cohorts,  who  fought  with  the  short  Roman  gladius  in 
the  battle  of  the  Grampians.  The  Franks  also,  who  long  retained  the 
sword  of  their  ancestors,  were  frequently  encumbered  by  its  length. J 
The  excessive  dimensions  of  this  weapon  of  the  Highlanders  have  been 
reduced,  but  the  term  broad  sword  is  still  an  appropriate  designation. 
It  has  ever  been  a  favorite  weapon  of  the  Scots,  and  for  1800  years, 
since  the  desperate  conflict  at  the  Grampian  Hill,  its  exercise  has  been 
sedulously  practised,  and  its  dexterous  management  in  the  field  of  strife 
has  been  the  means  of  ensuring  many  a  brilliant  victory.  The  Scotish 
swordsmen  were  only  inferior  to  the  phalanx  of  spearmen.    The  one 


Diodorus.  t  Gibbon. 

27 


t  Luitprand. 


£10 


SWORDS. 


represented  in  p.  213  is  in  my  possession,  and  is  a  specimen  of  the  old 
manufacture;  it  is  marked  on  each  side  with  four  busts,  wearing  eastern 
crowns,  which  may  have  an  allusion  to  the  arms  of  Fraser,  by  one  of 
which  clan  it  is  known  to  have  been  used  at  Culloden.  It  is  two  feet 
eight  inches  long  in  the  blade,  and  one  inch  and  a  quarter  wide.  One 
in  the  Tower  armory  is  three  feet  long,  and  one  inch  and  three  quarters 
broad. 

William  the  Lion,  who  came  to  the  throne  in  1166,  ordained  the 
sword,  dagger,  and  knife,  to  be  the  proper  arms  of  his  subjects.  The 
troops  of  Sir  William  Wallace  were  chiefly  armed  with  the  claidheamh- 
more,  to  which  the  Gael  have  alwaj'  j  been  so  partial.  A  French  author, 
in  1547,  describes  the  Scots  as  armed  with  a  sword  that  was  ''very 
large  and  marvellously  cutting." 

The  sword  of  the  Gauls  and  Britons  is  believed  to  have  been  suspend- 
ed across  the  right  thigh  by  a  chain  of  iron  or  brass;  a  position  that  must 
have  been  very  awkward  and  inconvenient.  The  description  may  be 
misunderstood,*  We  find  figures  of  these  nations,  representing  the 
belt,  or  chain,  passing  over  the  right  shoulder,  as  now  worn;  and  Pro- 
copius  describes  the  Roman  auxiliaries,  among  whom  the  Celts  were  no 
inconsiderable  number,  as  carrying  their  swords  on  the  left  side.  It  was 
customary  with  the  Highlanders,  to  hold  the  sword  in  their  hands  until 
they  had  occasion  to  use  them,  when  they  threw  down  the  scabbard. 

The  scabbards  seem  to  have  been  anciently  formed  of  wood,  remains 
of  which  have  sometimes  been  found  adhering  to  the  sword,  deposited  in 
the  grave  of  the  Celtic  warrior.  Those  of  leather,  which  Henry  the 
Minstrel  calls  the  hose,  were  marked  with  various  figures,  in  manner  of 
the  targets,  &c.  before  described. 

Sir  Richard  Hoare  does  not  find  that  the  sword  of  the  ancient  Briton 
was  provided  with  a  guard;  but,  from  Dr.  Smith's  description,  it  appears 
to  have  been  known  to  the  old  Caledonians.  The  form  of  the  basket  hilt 
now  usually  worn,  is  not  perhaps  of  great  antiquity.  It  was  only  seen 
among  the  better  sort,  for  those  of  the  common  people  were  rude  and 
clumsy.  The  sword  which  belonged  to  Gordon  of  Bucky,  who  assisted 
at  the  slaughter  of  the  "bonnie  Earl  of  Murray,"  is  supposed  to  be  the 
most  ancient  specimen  of  this  sort:  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
basket  hilt  is  of  much  greater  antiquity,  and  that  the  Gael  had  attained 
considerable  perfection  in  the  manufacture.  Isla,  one  of  the  Hebuda?, 
was  celebrated  for  the  fabrication  of  sword  hilts. 

The  Gael  latterly  received  a  great  part  of  their  arms  from  the  Conti- 
nent, and  the  Spanish  blades  were  particularly  esteemed.  Their  broad- 
swords were  always  well  tempered,  but  they  appear  to  have  been  unable 
to  produce  such  excellent  weapons  as  those  fabricated  abroad.  Andrea 
Ferara,  who  is  believed  to  have  lived  in  Banff*,  following  with  much 
success  the  manufacture  of  broadswords,  is  accused  of  ol>6tinately  resist- 


*  "  In  dextro  femore  oblique  dependentes,"  Diodorus. 


BROAD  SWORD  EXERCISE. 


211 


ing  all  attempts  to  obtain  possession  of  his  peculiar  mode  of  tempering 
blades.  This  story  is  current  among  the  Highlanders,  but  it  has  been 
questioned  whether  Andrea  was  ever  in  Scotland.  This  point  may  be 
left  unsettled  without  much  regret.  Whether  manufactured  in  Scotland, 
or  imported,  the  Ferara  broadswords  were  highly  esteemed,  and  by  no 
means  uncommon  in  the  olden  time. 

The  boys  of  the  Highlanders  were  trained,  from  an  early  age,  to 
cudgel  playing,  that  they  might  become  expert  at  the  broadsword  exer- 
cise. Their  whole  time  is  said  to  have  been  so  occupied;  and,  besides 
training  at  home,  there  was  a  sort  of  gymnasium  in  Badenoch,  to  which 
the  youth  resorted.  Many  anecdotes  might  be  recited,  to  show  the  ex- 
pertness  of  the  Gael  in  handling  the  sword.  John  Campbell,  a  soldier 
in  the  Black  Watch,  killed  nine  men  with  it  at  Fontenoy,  and,  on  attack- 
ing the  tenth,  his  left  arm  was  unfortunately  carried  off  by  a  cannon  ball. 
Donald  Mac  Leod,  who  was  so  remarkable  for  his  robust  frame  and  lon- 
gevity, having  entered  the  service  of  King  William,  and  enjoyed,  for 
many  years,  a  pension  from  George  III.,  relates  many  brilliant  anecdotes 
of  his  countrymen's  prowess.  He  fought  various  single  combats,  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  On  one  occasion,  he  cut  off  part  of  the  calf  of  a  Ger- 
man's leg,  and  wounded  him  in  the  sword  arm,  to  show  that  he  had  it  in  his 
power  to  take  his  life.  In  the  rebellion  of  1715,  he  accepted  a  challenge 
from  a  Captain  Mac  Donald,  a  celebrated  fencer  in  the  Earl  of  Mar's 
service,  who  had  openly  defied  the  whole  royal  army.  In  this  trial  of 
skill,  Mac  Leod  cut  off  the  other's  purse,  and  asked  him  if  he  wanted 
any  thing  else  taken  off.'*  on  which  Mac  Donald  gave  up  the  contest, 
acknowledging  his  inferiority,  and  left  the  victor  his  purse  as  a  trophy. 
The  Earl,  who  was  himself  an  excellent  swordsman  and  kept  a  band  of 
clever  fellows  about  him,  sent  ten  guineas  to  Mac  Leod;  and  his  gen- 
eral, Argyle,  added  as  much.  One  of  the  Robertsons,  of  Lude,  cut  off 
the  two  buttons  of  his  antagonist's  shirt  collar,  as  a  friendly  hint  that  his 
head  was  likely  to  follow.  Gillies  Mac  Bane,  at  Culloden,  perceiving 
the  Campbells  attacking  the  Highland  army,  by  means  of  the  breach 
which  they  had  made  in  an  old  wall,  opposed  them  as  they  entered  the 
gap,  and,  ere  he  fell,  overpowered  by  the  number  of  his  enemies,  his 
claymore  had  laid  fourteen  of  them  dead  at  his  feet.  At  Preston  Pans, 
where  the  devoted  rebels  obtained  their  first  victory,  the  slain  all  fell  by 
the  sword.  On  this  occasion,  prodigies  of  valor  were  performed.  A 
boy  about  fourteen  years  of  age  was  presented  to  the  Prince,  as  one  who 
had  killed,  or  brought  to  the  ground,  no  fewer  than  fourteen  ! 

Polyaenus  says  that  the  Gauls  always  struck  at  the  head  with  their 
swords.  It  was  by  slashing  at  the  heads  of  the  horses  that  the  High- 
landers were  able  so  effectually  to  repulse  and  defeat  the  most  numerous 
bodies  of  cavalry.  They  also  struck  at  the  heads  of  the  infantry;  and, 
to  guard  against  the  consequence  of  this  mode  of  attack,  it  was  repre- 
sented as  necessary  for  all  to  wear  a  skull  cap,  or  horse  shoe  under  their 
hat.    The  onset  of  the  Highlanders,  in  the  language  of  Johnstone,  was 


S12 


BROAD  SWORD  EXERCISE. 


"  so  terrible  that  the  best  troops  in  Europe  would  with  difficulty  sustain 
the  first  shock  of  it;  and  if  the  swords  of  the  Highlanders  once  came  in 
contact  with  them,  their  defeat  was  inevitable."  Mac  Pherson,  of  Clu- 
ny,  not  aware  that  the  cavalry  of  the  royal  army  at  Falkirk  wore  head 
pieces  of  iron,  declared,  with  astonishment,  that  he  never  met  with 
skulls  so  hard  as  those  of  the  Dragoons,  for  he  had  struck  at  them  until 
he  was  tired,  and  was  scarce  able  to  break  one! 

The  management  of  the  broadsword,  or  single  stick,  which  it  closely 
resembles,  as  now  taught,  may  be  comprehended  in  thirty-one  lessons. 
The  old  Highland  exercise  was  not  less  remarkable  for  simplicity  and 
elegance,  than  utility.  By  seven  cuts,  oblique,  horizontal,  and  diagonal, 
and  one  guard,  in  which  the  sword  is  held  vibrating,  as  a  pendulum, 
ready  to  turn  aside  the  thrusts  of  an  enemy,  the  adversary  was  assailed 
and  the  person  effectually  protected.  The  salute  of  the  Celtic  swords- 
man was  peculiarly  graceful.  The  importance  of  this  exercise  was 
evinced  by  enabling  undisciplined  troops  to  make  head  against  numerous 
armies,  and  even  defeat  skilful  veterans.  Its  utility  in  the  present  day, 
to  officers  of  both  army  and  navy,  is  apparent,  and  many  occasions  may 
arise  to  show  the  advantage  of  knowing  properly  how  to  use  a  stick. 
With  this  simple  weapon,  a  skilful  player  can  defend  himself  with  ease 
from  the  simultaneous  attacks  of  three  or  four,  and  put  to  defiance  the 
efTorts  of  the  most  renowned  pugilists.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  de- 
sirable accomplishment  and  healthy  exercise  is  now  so  little  attended  to. 

A  favorite  amusement  of  the  Highlanders  was  the  sword  dance,  which 
was  performed  with  a  great  degree  of  grace  and  agility,  being  usually 
introduced  as  a  finale  to  a  ball,  in  manner  of  the  "  bob  at  the  bolster" 
of  the  Low  lands,  and  the  country  bumpkin  of  England.  The  diversions 
of  most  ancient  nations  were  of  a  military  cast.  Olaus  Magnus  de- 
scribes a  dance  of  this  sort  among  the  people  of  the  North.  It  was  also 
practised  by  the  Saxons,  even  afl:er  the  Conquest,  the.  dancers  being 
called  joculators,  as  if  they  were  fighting  in  jest,  from  which  arose  the 
old  Scots  word,  jungleurs,  and  the  modern  English  jugglers.  A  sort 
of  sword  dance  was  usual  in  some  parts  of  England,  at  no  remote  period, 
but  it  was  performed  in  a  manner  different  from  the  Scots. 

Mac  Pherson,  "the  Rob  Roy  of  the  North,"  who  was  executed  at 
Banff,  16th  Nov.  1700,  and  whose  history  Sir  Walter  Scott  intended  to 
interweave  in  a  romance,  embellishing  and  amplifying  its  romantic  inci- 
dents by  his  fertile  imagination,  possessed  a  trusty  claymore  of  Ferara's 
manufacture.  Before  he  left  the  prison,  anxious  to  commit  this  weapon 
to  the  hands  of  one  qualified  to  use  it,  he  bequeathed  it  to  Provost  Scott, 
who  left  it  to  his  son-in-law,  Provost  Mark.  This  gentleman  fulfilled 
the  wish  of  poor  Mac  Pherson,  by  giving  it  to  Mr.  John  Turner,  his 
near  relation,  a  good  swordsman;  after  whose  death,  it  remained  in 
possession  of  his  widow  for  some  time:  but  an  English  gentleman  ex- 
pressing a  desire  to  obtain  a  broadsword,  Captain  Robertson  applied  to 
Mrs.  Turner  for  that  of  Mac  Pherson,  which  was  readily  presented,  and 


TWO-HANDED  SWORD. 


213 


thus,  about  fifty  years  since,  is  said  to  have  terminated  the  history  of 
the  genuine  blade,  which  was  never  afterwards  heard  of.  A  long  two- 
handed  sword  is  preserved  at  Duff  house,  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Fife,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Banff,  which  belonged  to  this  celebrated  Kern. 
There  is  also  his  target,  on  which  is  a  deep  indentation  from  a  bullet. 
The  intention  of  Sir  Walter,  to  found  one  of  his  amusing  productions  on 
the  events  of  Mac  Pherson's  life,  and  the  popularity  of  his  memory  in 
the  Northern  counties,  induced  the  author  to  make  particular  inquiries 
concerning  these  relics,  and  the  noble  Earl,  in  whose  armory  they  now 
remain,  with  characteristic  condescension,  supplied  these  details.  For 
the  other  particulars  he  is  indebted  to  a  much  esteemed  friend,  who  pro- 
cured the  information  from  Mrs.  Mac  Hardy,  an  intelligent  old  lady, 
the  daughter  of  Mr.  Turner. 

The  two-handed  sword  was  a  favorite  weapon  of  the  Highlanders,  and 
it  is  usually  represented  on  the  tombstones  of  the  old  Celtic  heroes. 
Dr.  Meyrick  says  the  Spathae  were  two-handed,  and  were  called  Ched- 
dyv-hirdeuddwrn  by  the  Britons,  and  Dolaimghin  by  the  Irish.  The 
opinion  of  this  writer  is  always  deserving  of  high  respect.  On  the 
present  occasion,  he  confesses  that  none  of  them  have  ever,  to  his 
knowledge,  been  discovered. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  swords  of  the  Caledonians  who  opposed 
Agricola,  although  long  and  broad,  were  wielded  with  both  hands,  for 
their  left  was  sufficiently  occupied  in  the  dexterous  management  of  their 
little  shield.    A  two-handed  sword  preserved  at  Talisker,  in  the  Isle  of 


Sky,  measures  three  feet  seven  inches  in  length.  The  one  here  repre- 
sented is  three  feet  six  inches  long  in  the  blade,  eleven  inches  in  the 
hilt,  and  two  and  one  third  inches  broad.  It  is  in  possession  of  Mr. 
Donald  Mac  Pherson,  of  Pimlico,  and  belonged  to  his  ancestor,  Mac 
Pherson  of  Crathy,  parish  of  Laggan,  Inverness-shire.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  six  hundred  years  in  the  family;  and  is  represented  by  tradi- 
tion as  the  identical  weapon  borne  by  one  of  the  victorious  combatants 
at  the  battle  of  Perth.  The  last  time  it  was  used  in  war  was  in  1594, 
when  the  Earls  of  Huntly  and  Errol,  with  inferior  numbers,  encountered 
and  overthrew  the  Earl  of  Argyle  at  the  burn  of  Altacholihan,  in  Glen- 
livat.  Some  years  ago,  the  remains  of  silk  and  silver  lace  were  attached 
to  the  hilt. 

In  those  times,  when  the  Highlanders  went  armed  both  "to  kirk  and 


214 


CEARNAOH,  OR  KERN. 


market,"  the  gentlemen  took  their  gille-more,  or  sword-bearer,  along 
with  them.  Even  the  clergymen  armed  themselves,  in  compliance  with 
the  national  custom.  The  Rev.  Donald  Mac  Leod,  of  Sky,  who  lived 
about  forty  years  ago,  remembered  his  great-grandfather,  who  was  also 
a  clergyman,  going  to  church  with  his  two-handed  sword  by  his  side; 
and  his  servant,  who  walked  behind,  with  his  bow  and  case  of  arrows. 
A  Gaelic  song  alludes  to  this  practice,  where  it  is  said: 
"  Tha  claidheamh  air  Join  san't  searmoin." 
John  is  girt  with  his  sword  at  sernjon. 

A  vivid  picture  of  a  contention  with  the  two-handed  sword  is  given  in 
the  description  of  the  judicial  combat  between  the  clans  Chattan  and 
Dhai,  on  the  north  inch  of  Perth,  from  the  pen  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who 
has  repeated  the  subject  in  "  Anne  of  Geierstein."  In  the  British  Mu- 
seum is  a  black  letter  work  entitled,  "  La  noble  Science  des  jouers  de 
Spee,"  printed  at  Danvers,  in  1538,  which  contains  instructions  for  the 
exercise  of  this  sword.  It  is  embellished  with  twenty-two  wood-cuts, 
representing  the  different  guards  and  positions.  From  these,  it  appears 
the  weapon  was  often  rested  with  the  point  on  the  ground,  the  hands  not 
being  always  confined  to  the  hilt  or  handle,  but  occasionally  grasped  the 
blade  itself. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  troops  called  Cathern,*  Cearnach,  or 
Kern.  We  learn  from  Vegetius,  that  Caterna,  or  Caterva,  was  the  name 
of  a  legion  among  the  Gauls.  Cath,  a  battle,  turbha,  a  multitude,  is 
the  Gaelic  etymology  of  this  word.  The  kaderne  of  the  Welsh  and 
cathern  of  the  Gael,  signify  fighting  men,  an  appellation  that  became 
known  in  the  Low  Country  as  a  term  of  reproach,  from  the  activity  and 
success  of  these  men  in  foraying,  repelling  aggression,  and  making 
reprisals  on  their  Saxon  neighbors.  By  the  dexterity  of  their  military 
exploits,  the  young  men  were  obliged  to  prove  themselves  worthy  the 
honor  of  being  enrolled  in  this  company  of  national  guards. 

The  Kern  were  light  armed,  and  excelled  in  the  desultory  manner  of 
fighting,  characteristic  of  the  Gael;  hence  they  acquired  the  appellation 
Cathern  na  choille,  the  fighting  men  of  the  woods.  The  Kern,  whom 
Spenser  reckoned  the  proper  Irish  military,  although  accounted  inferior 
to  the  Galloglach,  and  stigmatized  as  "  the  dross  and  scum  of  the  coun- 
try," were,  from  their  renown,  best  known  to  the  English,  who  proposed, 
in  1626,  to  raise  bands  of  them  at  4d.  per  day,  with  pipers  at  8d.  They 
had  spears,  swords,  and  dirks,  but  bows  and  arrows  were  their  usual 
arms.    Derrick  describes  those  of  1581  in  the  following  lines. 

"  With  skulles  upon  their  poules, 

Insteade  of  civil  cappes, 
With  speares  in  hand  and  sword  by  sides, 

To  beare  off  afterclappes ; 
With  jackettes  long  and  large, 

Which  shroud  simplicitie  : 


*See  page  108. 


GALLOGLACH. 


tl6 


Though  spiteful  dartes  which  they  do  beare 

Importe  iniquitie. 
Their  shirtes  be  verie  straunge, 

Not  reaching  paste  the  thigh, 
With  pleates  on  pleates  they  pleated  are, 

As  thicke  as  pleates  may  lye. 
Whose  slieves  hang  trailing  doune, 

Almoste  unto  the  shoe, 
And  with  a  mantle  commonlie 

The  Irish  Karne  doe  goe. 
And  some  amongst  the  reste, 

Do  use  another  weede  : 
A  coat  I  ween  of  strange  device, 

Which  fancie  first  did  breed. 
His  skirtes  be  verie  shorte, 

With  pleates  set  thicke  about, 
And  Irish  trouzes  more,  to  put 

Their  straunge  protractours  out. 
Like  as  their  weedes  be  straunge. 

And  monstrous  to  beholde ; 
So  do  their  manners  far  surpasse 

Them  all  a  thousande  folde. 
For  they  are  termed  wilde, 

Wood  Karne  they  have  to  name ; 
And  mervaile  not,  though  straunge  it  be, 

For  they  deserve  the  same,"  &c. 

The  Galloglach,  or  Galloglas,  were  heavy  armed:  they  were  the 
tallest  and  strongest  men  of  a  clan,  and  were  allowed  a  portion  of  meat 
double  that  of  the  other  troops.  They  were  armed  with  swords,  helmets, 
and  mail,  and  carried  a  Lochaber  axe,  which  is  said  to  have  been  pecu- 
liar to  them,  as  the  dirk  was  to  the  Kern.  Considerable  dependence 
was  placed  on  these  soldiers,  who  were  usually  drawn  up  against  caval- 
ry. An  old  writer  on  Irish  history  says  they  were  neither  good  against 
horse  nor  pikes.  They  were,  however,  in  high  estimation,  and  every 
individual  of  this  class  was  specified  in  official  returns.  In  "the  rysing 
out  of  the  Iryshrie  and  others  to  the  general  hosting,  1579,"  is  Mac 
Donell,  a  Gallweglasse.  They  received  certain  pay,  which  appears  to 
have  been  that  called  bonaughts.  In  an  Irish  MS.,  1555,  I  find  Gallo- 
glas money  mentioned.  From  the  name  given  to  their  pay,  they  were 
sometimes  called  bonaughti.  Bonaugh-bur,  was  free  quarter,  and  pay- 
ments either  of  money  or  victuals:  bonaugh-beg,  was  a  commutation  for 
a  settled  quantity  of  money  or  provisions.  These  exactions  were  levied 
on  heritable  lands  under  the  term  sorehon,  which  comprehended  other 
customary  mails.  Every  plough  land  was  also  burdened  with  kern-tee, 
a  payment  rendered  for  the  support  of  the  Cearnach.  A  Galloglach 
usually  attended  the  chief,  whose  duty  was  to  prevent  his  master  from 
being  taken  by  surprise,  and  to  rescue  him  from  any  sudden  danger. 

The  ancient  Celts  carried  a  dagger,  suspended  from  a  chain,  or  belt, 
fastened  round  the  body.    Herodotus  describes  the  Scyths  and  Thra- 


DAGGERS,  OR  DIRKS. 


cians  as  carrying  this  weapon,*  which  was  sharp  and  pointed,  being  used 
for  close  fighting,  and  among  the  Celtiberians  it  measured  a  span  in 
length.l 

Dio  describes  the  Caledonians,  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Severus, 
as  armed  with  daggers;  and  a  stone  preserved  in  the  Glasgow  Museum, 
dug  from  the  wall  of  Antoninus,  represents  two  figures,  believed  to  be 
Celts,  with  this  weapon  hanging  before  them.  The  heroes  of  Morven 
and  of  Innisfail  carried  this  essential  part  of  the  armor  of  the  Scots  and 
Irish.;]]  Among  the  ancient  Britons,  the  dagger,  like  the  sword,  was 
usually  of  brass,  or  bronze,  and  is  often  found  in  barrows  in  various 
parts  of  England.  The  Saxons  had  it  longer  than  the  Britons.  It  was 
called  by  the  Welsh  Cylleth  hirion,  or  a  very  long  knife;  had  a  horn 
handle  with  brass  ornaments,  and  a  small  hollow  at  the  tip  of  the  handle, 
for  the  thumb. ^  By  means  of  this  weapon,  the  Saxons  perpetrated  the 
treacherous  and  cruel  massacre  of  the  unsuspecting  Britons,  at  their 
temple  on  Salisbury  plain.  A  very  neat  little  dagger,  with  an  ivory 
handle  nicely  carved,  found  near  Cillgerran,  in  Wales,  may  have  belong- 
ed to  a  Cambrian  Chief.  A  little  silver  sword,  about  two  and  a  half 
inches  long,  was  given  by  Cullen,  King  of  Scotland,  to  Gillespie  More. 
Certain  lands  in  Perthshire  were  held  by  this  gift,  and  it  was  produced 
after  1743. || 

The  dirk  of  the  Highlanders  is  called  bidag,  or  biodag,  the  bidawg  of 
the  Welsh,  in  the  latter  syllable  of  which  we  perceive  the  root  of  the 
English  dagger. 

The  BIDAG  is  adapted  for  fighting  at  close  quarters,  where  the  sword 
cannot  be  used,  or  where  the  party  may,  either  m  the  heat  of  action,  or 
otherwise,  have  been  deprived  of  it.  W^hen  dexterously  wielded  by  a 
strong  and  resolute  Highlander,  this  was  a  most  terrific  weapon.  It  was 
not  held  in  the  same  way  as  the  sword,  but  in  a  reverse  position,  point- 
ing towards  the  elbow,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  carried  allowed 
it  to  be  drawn  with  perfect  facility.  The  belt  which  fastened  the  plaid, 
became  the  baldrick  by  which  this  trusty  blade  was  secured.  It  was 
placed  on  the  right  side,  and  instead  of  hanging  loosely  as  it  is  now  gen- 
erally worn,  the  belt  was  either  slipped  through  a  hook  affixed  to  the 
sheath,  sometimes  steady,  and  frequently  movable  on  a  swivel,  or  a 
long  hook,  or  slide,  answered  the  same  purpose.  It  was  thus  firmly  at- 
tached to  the  thigh,  and  was  consequently  so  judiciously  suspended,  that 
it  could  be  drawn  in  an  instant,  and  this  was  of  some  importance  in  the 
event  of  a  sudden  assault,  or  so  close  a  contention  as  would  prevent  a 
free  use  of  the  sword.  If  it  hung  loosely,  it  would  have  incommoded 
the  wearer,  and  could  not  be  so  promptly  at  command,  but,  carried  as 
it  was,  the  hand  could  instinctively  be  laid  on  the  hilt. 

From  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  this  weapon  was  managed,  the 
most  dreadful  execution  was  sometimes  performed  with  it.    When  the 


*  Lib.  vii.  c.  60-75. 

§  Hist,  of  Cardiganshire. 


t  Diodorus. 
11  Pinkerton. 


t  Ossian,  &c. 


DAGGERS,  OR  DIRKS. 


217 


arm  was  raised,  the  dirk  was  pointed  to  the  assailant  in  front:  when  low- 
ered, it  menaced  the  foe  behind,  and,  by  turning  the  wrist  either  way, 
the  enemy  was  kept  at  bay,  or,  if  he  escaped  destruction,  received  the 
most  deadly  wounds. 

Incredible  feats  have  been  achieved  by  the  dirk,  which  was  a  con- 
venient instrument  to  execute  revenge.  A  violent  feud  had  long  sub- 
sisted between  the  Leslies  and  the  Leiths,  powerful  names  in  Aberdeen 
and  the  adjoining  counties,  and  one  of  the  former  having  been  invited, 
on  some  occasion,  to  the  castle  of  a  nobleman  not  concerned  in  the  quar- 
rel, he  found  himself  in  the  company  of  a  number  of  his  enemies,  the 
Leiths.  Waiting  his  opportunity,  he  joined  the  dance,  and,  suddenly 
drawing  his  dirk,  he  struck  right  and  left,  as  he  rushed  through  the  hall, 
and,  leaping  from  the  window,  effected  his  escape.  To  commemorate 
this  bold  and  bloody  exploit  the  tune  of"  Lesly  amo'  the  Leiths  "  was 
composed.  Another  early  instance  of  its  use  as  an  instrument  of  secret 
revenge,  occurs  in  Ossian;  as  Carthon  was  binding  Clessamor,  the  lat- 
ter, perceiving  the  foe's  uncovered  side,  "drew  the  dagger  of  his 
fathers."*  With  this  destructive  instrument,  at  a  later  period,  Forbes, 
the  Laird  of  Brux,  who  was  out  in  1745,  made  "sun  and  moon  shine 
thro'"  the  enemy,  as  he  expressed  himself  to  a  friend  of  mine. 

The  Highlanders  were  always  partial  to  "  the  cold  steel."  The  sword 
and  dirk  were  well  adapted  to  their  fierce  and  overwhelming  hand  to 
hand  mode  of  attack,  and  their  dexterity  in  the  use  of  both,  ensured  the 
success  of  many  a  foray,  and  was  the  means  of  their  gaining  many  a 
victory.  There  were  always,  even  in  late  times,  many  of  the  "  High- 
landmen,"  who  had  no  other  arms,  and  from  the  many  desperate  con- 
flicts in  which  they  signalized  themselves  with  "sword  an'  dirk  into  their 
han',  wi  whilk  they  were  na  slaw,"  these  came  to  be  spoken  of  as  almost 
the  only  weapons  they  possessed.  At  the  battle  of  Killicrankie,  fought 
in  1689,  it  is  said  of  King  William's  troops,  that 

"  The  dirk  an'  d'our,  made  their  last  hour, 
An'  prov'd  their  final  fa',  man." 

I  have  remarked  that  more  broad  swords  than  dirks  are  to  be  now 
seen,  and  the  reason,  I  apprehend,  is,  that  the  latter  were  appropriated 
for  domestic  purposes,  when  it  was  no  longer  necessary  or  lawful  to 
carry  them  as  arms.  Pennant  observed  the  dirk  frequently  converted 
into  a  very  useful  knife,  by  the  butchers  of  Inverness,  being,  like  Hudi- 
bras's  dagger, 

"■  a  serviceable  dudgeon, 
Either  for  fighting  or  for  drudging." 

I  have  seen  them  employed  for  various  uses.  Some  chopped  up  moss 
fir  as  well  as  if  they  had  never  been  intended  for  more  honorable  service, 
whilst  others  served  in  the  humble  but  useful  office  of  a  "kail  gully." 
Few  are  to  be  met  with  that  do  not  appear  to  have  been  in  requisition 
for  other  purposes  than  originally  intended.  The  Highlander  has  often, 
by  its  means,  provided  himself  with  a  "clear  the  lawing,"  i.  e.  a  good 


*  Carthon. 

28 


218 


DAGGERS,  OR  DIRKS. 


cudgel.  In  attacking  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's  army,  at  Clifton,  the 
rebels  cut  through  the  hedges  with  their  bidag,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
complaints  on  the  disarming  act,  that  they  should  be  deprived  of  their 
dirks,  with  which  they  cut  down  wood,  &c.  Before  the  invention  of 
knives  they  supplied  their  place  at  table.  Possidonius  says  the  Gauls 
applied  them  to  this  purpose.  The  Highlanders  used  them  in  quartering 
deer  and  other  game.  The  dirk  was  the  favorite  "brand"  of  the  Gael. 
The  dagger  of  Ogar  was  *'the  weapon  which  he  loved."  The  most 
solemn  oath  was  swearing  on  it,  and  so  convenient  an  implement  was  it 
found,  that  it  was  almost  part  of  their  weed.  I  recollect  one  John 
M'Bean,  who  fought  at  Culloden,  and  was  among  the  M'Intoshes,  who 
made  so  furious  an  irruption  on  the  king's  army.  This  old  man,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  101,  and  was  able  to  walk  abroad  some  days  before 
his  death,  never  thought  himself  dressed  without  his  belt  and  a  small 
knife.  A  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance  had  shown  his  pistols  to  an  old 
man  at  Skellater,  in  Strathdon,  who,  in  reply,  drew  his  dirk,  and,  re- 
garding it  with  a  look  of  satisfaction,  observed,  "my  pistol  will  no  miss 
fire."  The  Highlanders  thought  it  hard  when  the  act  for  disarming  them 
was  passed,  that  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  carry  this  useful  and 
convenient  article,  and  were  loath,  when  the  gun,  the  sword,  and  the 
pistols  were  laid  aside,  to  part  with  the  dirk.  It  was  a  shrewd  remark 
of  one  Steuart,  in  Avenside,  who,  coming  down  to  the  lower  part  of 
Strathdon,  was  reminded  that  it  was  now  against  the  law  to  carry  his 
dirk;  "  No,"  replied  he,  indignantly,  "  it  is  not  against  the  law,  but  the 
law  is  against  it!  "  The  soldiers  of  the  Black  Watch,  or  42nd,  were 
allowed  to  carry  these  weapons,  if  they  chose,  and  as  the  corps  long 
continued  to  be  composed  of  Duinuasals,  or  the  better  class  of  High- 
landers, who  could  provide  themselves  with  them,  they  were  worn  until 
lately.  Grose  says  that,  in  1747,  most  of  the  privates  had  both  dirks 
and  targets. 

The  dirk  of  the  Highlander  is  an  instrument  peculiar  to  himself,  and 
his  ingenuity  has  rendered  it  extremely  useful.  The  sheath  has  been 
contrived  to  contain  his  knife  and  fork,  an  improvement  that  has  taken 
place  at  a  remote  period,  as  he  could  not  well  carve  his  venison  without 
these  implements.  Their  insertion  in  the  sheath  admits  a  considerable 
degree  of  ornament,  and  certainly  adds  to  the  splendor  of  a  full  dressed 
Highlander.  Some  of  the  more  modern  dirks  have  the  top  hollowed  into 
a  little  cavity  that  is  appropriated  for  snufF,  but  the  convenience  of  this 
is  not  apparent.  The  length  of  the  blade  is  determined  by  the  length  of 
the  arm;  when  grasped  in  the  hand,  the  point  ought  to  reach  to  the 
elbow;  it  is  double  edged  for  some  inches,  and  the  old  ones  have  usually 
the  figure  of  a  grayhound  traced  by  aquafortis,  near  the  hilt. 

The  hilt  of  this  instrument  is  often  very  curious,  and  is  formed  of  a 
piece  of  wood,  usually  of  alder,  ingeniously  figured.  It  is  said  these 
were  generally  the  work  of  shepherds,  performed  by  means  of  a  common 
penknife.    The  carving  represents  a  sort  of  tracery,  where  sprigs  appear 


BELT. 


219 


interlaced,  and  twisted  around  a  rough  piece  of  wood.  These  were 
more  or  less  intricate,  according  to  the  fancy  or  ability  of  the  workman. 
Some  are  executed  with  remarkable  taste,  and  their  beauty  is  heightened 
by  small  studs  of  gold,  silver,  brass,  or  steel,  producing  a  rich  effect. 
Where  the  handles  of  the  knife  and  fork  were  not  made  of  horn  or  bone, 
they  were  usually  finished  in  a  similar  style.  When  the  blade  formed  a 
point  that  was  carried  beyond  the  end  of  the  hilt,  it  was  converted  into 
an  ornamental  knob  at  top,  and  when  it  did  not  appear,  the  top  was 
carved  or  chased,  and  frequently  a  large  cairngorm  was  set  in  it.  The 
following,  in  the  possession  of  the  author,  is  a  specimen  of  the  old  bidag 
and  sheath. 


The  BELT  for  this  weapon  went  round  the  loins,  and  was  of  much  use 
in  ascending  mountains,  or  in  running,  in  which  cases  it  was  drawn 
close.  It  was  no  less  useful  in  fasting;  a  current  proverb  advises  the 
Gael  to  tighten  their  belts  until  they  get  food.  It  served  also  to  fasten 
the  breacan,  and  sometimes  suspended  the  purse,  having  a  buckle  of 
brass,  steel,  or  silver,  which,  in  many  cases,  was  figured,  or  bore  a 
motto  in  front.  Those  of  the  Celtic  warriors  were  richly  ornamented 
with  gold  and  silver;  and,  in  Ossian's  days,  the  "  studded  thongs  of  the 
sword,"  which  he  describes  as  broad,  were  much  admired.  A  leathern 
girdle,  perforated  lozenge-wise,  as  here  shown,  was  found  in  a  barrow, 
at  Beaksbourne,  in  Kent.* 


The  Norwegians,  at  the  battle  of  Largs,  fought  in  1263,  stripped 
Ferus,  a  Scots'  knight,  of  his  beautiful  belt.t 

Baldricks  were  not  always  of  leather;  they  were  sometimes  of  cloth, 
silk,  or  velvet,  trimmed  and  ornamented  with  gold  and  silver.  The 
Highlanders  have  often  a  waistbelt  for  suspending  a  pistol  and  ammuni- 
tion pouch. 

*  Nenia  Britannica. 

t  Johnstone's  Transl.  of  the  Norse  Account  of  Haco's  expedition. 


220 


BOW  ANP  ARROW. 


The  dirk  dance  is  a  curious  remain  of  the  ancient  amusements  of  the 
Gael,  but,  from  the  change  of  manners,  few  of  the  Highlanders  have 
now  the  least  knowledge  of  it.  It  is  denominated  bruichcath,  and  some 
dirks  have  several  perforations  in  the  blade  for  the  purpose,  it  is  said,  of 
inserting  the  ramrod  of  the  pistol  to  act  as  a  guard,  but  this  is  quite  in- 
consistent with  the  dirk  exercise.  This  performance  has  been  repre- 
sented in  London,  where  two  brothers,  of  the  name  of  Mac  Lennan, 
were  almost  the  only  individuals  who  could  execute  it,  but  the  species  of 
dance  which  is  now  known  does  not  appear  to  be  the  same  as  the  ancient. 
One  James  Mac  Pherson,  aged  106,  several  years  since,  saw  two  per 
sons  execute  this  dance,  and  declared  it  was  not,  by  any  means,  in  the 
old  national  way. 

The  Gauls  carried  a  kind  of  sword,  called  by  Strabo  and  Julius  Pol- 
.  lux,  machaera,  by  Csssar  and  Livy,  matara,  or  mazara.  The  first,  ac- 
cording to  O'Conner,  is  the  Gaelic  ma'  c'ar,  the  desolation  of  the  field 
of  battle.  Mata  is  applied  to  all  ferocious  animals,  and  seems  here 
joined  with  ar,  or  ara,  slaughter.  The  matadh  achalaise  was  a  weapon 
worn  by  the  Highlanders,  and  evidently  derived  from  their  remote  ances- 
tors. It  was  carried  under  the  left  armpit,  whence  the  term  achalaise. 
Livy  seems  to  describe  it  as  hung  from  the  left  shoulder.  In  some 
figures  discovered  in  the  North  of  England,  we  perceive  a  dagger  sus- 
pended by  a  cord,  or  belt,  passing  under  the  right  arm. 

Besides  all  these  weapons,  the  Highlanders  carried  the  skean  dhu,  or 
black  knife,  which  was  stuck  between  the  hose  and  the  skin  of  their 
right  leg.  This  may  not  be  a  very  ancient  practice:  the  knife  was  for 
the  purpose  of  despatching  game,  or  other  servile  purposes,  for  which  the 
Highlanders  had  an  objection  to  employ  their  dirk. 

The  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow  is  one  of  the  most  early  discoveries 
of  mankind.  The  Eastern  nations  have  always  been  distinguished  by 
an  attachment  to  archery;  and  the  modern  Tartars,  the  descendants,  as 
many  believe,  of  the  ancient  Scythians,  who  can  scarcely,  in  distant 
ages,  be  discriminated  from  the  Celtae,  still  retain  that  dexterity  in  the 
management  of  the  bow,  for  which  their  ancestors  were  so  celebrated. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  West  and  North  of  Europe  were  also  famous  for 
the  exercise  of  this  weapon,  so  serviceable  in  hunting  and  in  battle,  and 
their  armies  contained  a  numerous  body  who  were  armed  with  it,  and 
who  served  both  on  foot  and  on  horseback.  So  universal  was  the  use  of 
the  bow,  that  Pliny  observes  half  the  world  had  been  conquered  by  its 
means.  Saighder,  the  Gaelic  name  for  a  soldier,  is  apparently  a  com- 
pound of  saighead,  an  arrow,  and  fear,  a  man.*  The  Roman  sagitta 
shows  its  Celtic  original.  The  Gaeli«  word  is  a  compound  of  sath,  to 
thrust,  or  push,  and  geoda,  an  appendage.  lui,  or  fiui,  an  arrow,  is 
now  obsolete,  except  in  the  poems  of  Ossian.f 

In  Britain,  the  Belgae  are  represented  as  having  been  particularly 

*  Smith,  in  Trans.  Highland  Soc.  Vol.  i. ;  but  see  p.  126  this  volume, 
t  Rev.  Thomas  Ross's  Notes  on  Fingal. 


BOW  AND  ARROW. 


221 


skilful  in  the  practice  of  archery,  but  the  etymology  given  of  the  name, 
deriving  it  from  this  exercise,  does  not  seem  very  just,  for  the  bow  was 
common  to  Caledonians,  Irish,  and  Welsh.  The  Belgic  tribes  were 
denominated  Firbolg,  from  the  bolg,  builg,  or  leathern  bag,  in  which 
they  carried  their  arrows,  as  some  maintain. 

The  chief  part  of  the  Gothic  and  Norman  armies  consisted  of  archers, 
and  among  the  Franks  the  use  of  the  bow  was  strictly  enjoined.  A  law 
of  Charlemagne  ordains  those  who  are  armed  with  clubs  to  assume  bows 
and  arrows.  The  superior  skill  of  the  Welsh,  in  the  management  of 
this  weapon,  is  highly  extolled  by  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  who  informs  us 
that  the  tribe  named  Venta  excelled  all  others,  and  relates  the  following 
anecdote  of  their  strength  and  dexterity.  During  a  siege,  it  happened 
that  two  soldiers,  running  in  haste  towards  a  town,  situated  a  little  dis- 
tance from  them,  were  attacked  with  a  number  of  arrows  from  the 
Welsh,  which  being  shot  with  prodigious  violence,  some  penetrated 
through  the  oak  doors  of  a  portal,  although  they  were  the  breadth  of 
four  fingers  in  thickness.  The  heads  of  these  arrows  were  afterwards 
driven  out  and  preserved,  in  order  to  continue  the  remembrance  of  such 
extraordinary  force  in  shooting  with  the  bow.  It  happened  also  in  a 
battle,  in  the  time  of  William  de  Breusa,  (as  he  himself  relates,)  that  a 
Welshman  having  directed  an  arrow  at  an  horse-soldier  of  his,  who  was 
clad  in  armor,  and  had  his  leather  coat  under  it;  the  arrow,  besides 
piercing  the  man  through  the  hip,  struck  also  through  the  saddle,  and 
mortally  wounded  the  horse  on  which  he  sat.  Another  Welsh  soldier, 
having  shot  an  arrow  at  one  of  his  horsemen  who  was  covered  with  strong 
armor,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  before  mentioned  person,  the  shaft 
penetrated  through  his  hip  and  fixed  in  the  saddle:  but,  what  is  most 
remarkable,  is,  that  as  the  horseman  drew  his  bridle  aside,  in  order  to 
turn  round,  he  received  another  arrow  in  his  hip  on  the  other  side, 
which,  passing  through  it,  he  was  firmly  fastened  to  the  saddle  on  both 
sides.  A  bow  with  twelve  arrows  were  among  the  three  legal  arms  oi 
the  Cumri. 

The  celebrity  of  the  Irish  archers  appears  to  have  declined  in  latter 
times.  They  continued  indeed  to  use  the  bow;  but  if  the  name  Scot^s 
derived  from  the  old  Gaelic  Sciot,  an  arrow,  their  ancestors  must  have 
been  very  remarkable  for  the  practice.  So  much  neglected,  however, 
had  the  art  of  shooting  with  the  bow  become  in  Ireland,  that  Cambrensis 
recommends  archers  to  be  intermingled  with  the  heavy  English  troops, 
when  fighting  with  the  natives;  and  the  conquest  of  the  island  is  said  to 
have  been  achieved,  principally  by  the  services  of  these  men,  to  which 
the  Irish  could  not  oppose  a  similar  arm,*  but  the  English  long  bow  was 
a  weapon  which  neither  the  Scots  nor  the  Irish  could,  at  all  times,  effectu- 
ally withstand.  These  nations  never  depended  for  victory  in  a  pitched 
battle,  by  the  use  of  their  bows,  which  were  of  small  size.  The  Scots' 
archers  commenced  an  engagement,  and  when  the  battle  joined,  they 


*  Lord  Littleton. 


222 


BOW  AND  ARROW 


abandoned  the  arrow  for  the  sword  and  spear,  as  they  were  afterwards 
accustomed  to  do  with  their  firearms.    In  the  Low  Country,  where  a  reg 
ular  charge  could  be  made,  the  spear  was  the  favorite  weapon.    Few  of 
Wallace's  men,  we  are  told,  were  —  "  Sicker  of  archery," 

"  better  they  were, 
In  field  to  bide,  eyther  with  sword  or  speare." 

Notwithstanding  the  dexterity  with  which  they  managed  their  own  lit 
tie  bows,  the  tremendous  effect  of  the  English  was  acknowledged  in  a 
current  saying,  that  "every  English  archer  beareth  under  his  girdle 
twenty-foure  Scottes,"  alluding  to  the  number  of  arrows.  Many  enact- 
ments were  passed,  with  little  effect,  to  improve  the  Scots'  atchers.  So 
late  as  1595,  one  James  Forgeson,  a  bowyer,  was  sent  by  the  King  of 
Scotland  into  England  to  purchase  ten  thousand  bows  and  bow-staves, 
and  as  he  could  not  procure  them  there,  he  proceeded  to  the  continent. 
The  Scots,  remarkable  for  their  tenacity  of  ancient  practices,  continued 
to,  use  their  short  bows  and  little  quivers  with  short-bearded  arrows, 
which  Spenser  says  "  are  at  this  day  to  be  scene,  not  past  three  quar- 
ters of  a  yard  long,  with  a  string  of  wreathed  hempe  slackely  bent,  and 
whose  arrows  are  not  above  half  an  ell  long." 

The  battle  of  Halidowne  hill,  1333,  affords  an  instance  of  the  dread- 
ful effect  of  the  English  long  bow.  "The  lord  Percie's  archers  did 
withall  deliver  their  deadly  arrowes  so  lively,  so  courageously,  so  griev- 
ously, that  they  ranne  through  the  men  of  armes,  bored  the  helmets, 
pierced  their  very  swords,  beat  their  lances  to  the  earth,  and  easily  shot 
those  who  were  more  slightly  armed,  through  and  through."  The  Scot- 
ish  archers,  however,  on  several  occasions,  made  a  good  figure  in  the 
national  armies,  and  acquired  considerable  renown.  Those  who  oppos- 
ed Haco,  at  Largs,  in  1263,  were  well  accoutred,  and  chiefly  armed 
with  bows  and  spears.  At  the  field  of  Bannockburn,  James  IIL  had 
ten  thousand  Highlanders  with  bows  and  arrows,  who  led  the  van.  At 
Fala,  James  V.  mustered  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men,  twenty  thou- 
sand of  whom  carried  pikes  and  spears,  and  twenty  thousand  "  were 
armed  with  bows  and  habergions  and  two-handed  swords,  which  was 
the  armor  of  our  Highland  men."*  In  1528,  Lord  Howard,  the  En- 
glish ambassador,  brought  three  score  horsemen,  all  picked  men,  and  cel- 
ebrated for  all  sorts  of  athletic  amusements,  to  Scotland;  but  "  they  were 
well  sayed  (tried)  ere  they  passed  out  of  it,"  says  Pistcottie,  "  and  that 
by  their  own  provocation;  but  ever  they  tint,  (lost);  till  at  last  the 
Queen  of  Scotland,  the  King's  mother,  favored  the  Englishmen,  because 
she  was  the  King  of  England's  sister;  and  therefore  she  took  an  en- 
terprise of  archery  upon  the  Englishmen's  hands,  contrary  her  son,  the 
King,  and  any  six  in  Scotland,  that  he  would  wale,  either  gentlemen  or 
yeomen,  that  the  Englishmen  should  shoot  against  them  either  at  pricks, 
revers,  or  butts,  as  the  Scots  pleased.  The  king  was  content,  and 
gart  her  pawn  a  hundred  crowns,  and  a  tun  of  wine  upon  the  English- 


*  Lindsay  of  Pistcottie. 


BOW  AND  ARROW. 


223 


men's  hands;  and  he  incontinently  laid  down  as  much  for  the  Scottish- 
men.  The  field  and  ground  were  chosen  in  St.  Andrews,  and  three 
landed  men  and  three  yeomen  chosen  to  shoot  against  the  English,  viz. 
David  Wemys  of  that  ilk,  David  Arnot  of  tliat  ilk,  and  Mr.  John  Wed- 
derburn,  vicar  of  Dundee;  the  yeomen  were  John  Thompson,  in  Leith, 
Stephen  Tabourner,  with  a  piper,  called  Alexander  Baillie.  They  shot 
very  near,  and  warred  the  Englishmen  of  the  enterprise,  and  won  the 
hundred  crowns  and  the  tun  of  wine;  which  made  the  king  very  merry." 

The  Scots'  Highlanders  and  the  Gael  of  Ulster  continued  to  use  the 
bow  till  the  beginning  of  last  century.  It  was  extremely  serviceable  in 
hunting,  for  which  purpose  it  was  much  employed  by  the  ancient  Brit- 
ons. In  fighting,  the  Celtic  method  was  first  to  expend  all  their  arrows 
at  a  distance;  when  the  chief  of  each  tribe  advanced  with  his  men  to  a 
closer  attack.  The  bow  was  last  used  as  a  military  weapon  by  British 
troops  about  1700,  when  the  regiment  of  Royal  Scots,  commanded  by 
the  Earl  of  Orkney,  were  armed  in  "  the  old  Highland  fashion,  with  bows 
and  arrows,  swords  and  targets,  and  wore  steel  bonnets."*  About  that 
period  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Lewis  were  celebrated  for  their 
dexterity  in  archery  :"|"  those  of  Glenlyon,  in  Perthshire,  J  and  Strathco- 
nan,  were  equally  famous.    The  bow  was  drawn  by  the  right  ear. 

The  introduction  of  the  musket  was  a  death  blow  to  the  use  of  the 
bow,  and  to  the  interests  of  all  who  lived  by  the  manufacture.  Those 
affected  by  the  decay  of  this  ancient,  and  once  so  effective  weapon, 
strenuously  opposed  the  adoption  of  firearms,  and  contended  for  its 
superiority.  Its  encouragement  did  for  some  time  become  an  object  of 
national  solicitude,  but  no  exertions  could  retard  the  advance  of  im- 
provement in  the  art  of  destruction,  and  avert  the  ultimate  fall  of  "the 
noble  science  of  archery." 

In  the  Lansdowne  collection  of  MSS.,  No.  22  contains  a  discourse, 
addressed  to  the  Council  of  Henry  VIII.,  or  Edward  VI.,  showing  that 
the  use  of  the  bow  was  much  more  destructive  than  "goinnery." 
Alleyn's  Henry  VII.,  quoted  by  Dr.  Johnson,  we  are  told  that 
"  The  white  faith  of  history  cannot  show 
That  e'er  a  musket  yet  could  beat  the  bow.' 

In  1576,  the  bowyers,  fletchers,  stringers,  and  arrow-head  makers, 
petitioned  Lord  Burleigh  for  authority  to  enforce  the  practice  of  archery, 
and  repress  unlawful  exercises,  according  to  the  statutes;  when  it  is 
hoped  that,  in  two  or  three  years,  the  use  of  the  bow  would  be  restored. 
A  warrant  from  Queen  Elizabeth,  preserved  in  the  same  volume,  was 
granted  according  to  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  but  it  was  unfortunate- 
ly left  without  the  royal  signature. 

Sir  John  Smyth,  knight,  in  his  work  on  "  the  Necessity  of  Archery," 
b.  letter,  1596,  says,  he  never  will  refuse,  with  eight  thousand  good  ar- 
chers, to  adventure  his  life  against  twenty  thousand  of  the  best  shot  in 
Christendom.    Alas!  the  lamentable  forebodings  of  speedy  destruction 

*  Mem.  Don.  Mac  Leod. 


t  Martin.         t  Gillies'  Old  Gaelic  Poems,  p.  83. 

BOSTON  COLLEGE  UB^"'^ 
CHESTNOT  HILL,  MASS. 


2^ 


STONE  ARROW  HEADS. 


to  the  liberties  of  old  England,  from  the  introduction  of  fire  arms,  were 
the  creations  of  their  own  brains;  and  Smyth's  objections  were  repelled, 
with  strong  arguments,  by  one  Barwick,  an  old  and  experienced  soldier. 

The  GalUc  bow  appears,  from  various  monuments,  to  have  been  simi- 
lar in  form  to  those  now  used.  The  Scythians  had  it  of  a  singular  curve, 
the  ends  being  bent  inwards,  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  with  a  straight 
round  part  in  the  centre.  The  Scots  made  their  bows  of  yew;  the 
English  preferred  ash.    Those  of  the  Welsh  were  of  rough  wild  elm.* 

Arrows,  in  their  most  simple  form,  were  merely  a  reed,  or  slip  of 
wood,  carefully  sharpened  to  a  point;  and  it  is  reported  as  a  curious  fact, 
that  an  arrow  of  this  sort  will  penetrate  deeper  into  the  bojdy  which  it 
strikes,  than  if  it  were  armed  with  any  other  substance.  The  arrows  of 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Picardy  were  formed  of  a  certain  reed,  ex- 
cellent for  the  purpose,  and  only  inferior  to  those  that  grew  in  the  Rhene, 
a  river  in  Bonnonia.t  The  Scythians  used  fir  iree,1  the  Sarmatae  em- 
ployed cornel  wood,  and  having  no  iron,  they  pointed  their  arrows  with 
osiers. §    The  Fenns,  a  people  of  Germany,  used  bone. 

One  of  the  most  ancient  means  of  arming  offensive  weapons,  was  by 
the  laborious  formation  of  stone  for  that  purpose.  So  generally  does 
this  mode  of  pointing  arrows  seem  to  have  prevailed,  that  there  are  few 
countries  where  these  rude  articles  are  not  to  be  found.  They  have 
been  discovered  in  America  and  the  West  India  Islands.  Herodotus 
describes  the  arrows  of  the  Ethiopians,  who  served  in  Xerxes'  army,  as 
being  pointed  with  a  stone  used  for  those  seals  that  were  engraved. || 
The  use  of  metal,  which  that  writer  shows  to  have  been  well  known  to 
the  nations  of  the  West  at  a  very  early  period  of  time,  indicates  the  ex- 
treme antiquity  of  these  stone  implements,  which  are  found  in  consid- 
erable numbers  in  various  parts  of  Scotland.  In  Ireland  they  are  also 
often  met  with,  but  in  England  less  frequently,  although  beautiful  speci- 
mens have  been  discovered  in  the  barrows  of  Wiltshire  and  elsewhere. 
They  have  been  found  in  Isla,  but  have  never  perhaps  been  met  with  in 
any  other  of  the  Islands  of  Hebudgs. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  they  could  have  been  formed  in  those 
rude  ages,  when  there  were  no  implements  of  metal  to  assist  in  the 
manufacture.  It  must  have  been  by  a  patient  and  careful  beating  and 
rubbing,  the  workman  probably  spoiling  many  before  he  was  able  to 
produce  one  perfect.  The  regularity  of  their  figure  is  astonishing,  and 
much  labor  and  perseverance  were  certainly  necessary,  to  mould  and 
polish  them  so  neatly.  The  flint  of  which  they  are  formed  is  generally 
of  a  brownish  color;  in  Perth  and  Aberdeenshires  they  are  generally 
reddish.  Some  have  been  found  in  Ireland  of  a  stone  resembling  an 
onyx,  and  nearly  as  pellucid. 

They  are  usually  discovered  in  the  sepulchres  of  the  ancient  tribes, 
who  were  accustomed  to  deposit  a  certain  number,  according  to  the 

*  Gir.  Camb.  t  Pliny,  xvi.  36.  t  Strabo. 

§  Pausanias,  i.  21  1|  Lib.  vii.  69. 


STONE  ARROW  HEADS. 


rank  and  estimation  in  which  the  deceased  warrior  was  held;  but  in 
Scotland  they  are  more  generally  to  be  picked  up  on  the  land,  particu- 
larly that  which  has  been  recently  brought  under  cultivation,  being  then 
turned  up  by  the  plough  or  spade.  In  some  particular  parts  they  are 
found  more  abundantly  than  in  others,  and  often  in  such  numbers  as  to 
indicate  the  field  of  an  ancient  battle.  Many  rough  flints  are  found  in 
a  certain  spot  on  the  Culbin  hills,  near  the  aestuary  of  the  Findhorn,  and 
no  similar  stones  being  near  the  place,  it  has  been  conjectured  that  a 
manufactory  for  arrow  heads  was  there  established.*  That  they  were 
very  valuable  in  those  rude  ages,  when  they  were  used,  can  be  readily 
believed  from  the  extreme  trouble  there  must  have  been  in  forming  them,  / 
and  it  appears  they  were  occasionally  deposited  under  ground  for  secur- 
ity, as  money  has  been  in  more  recent  times.  If  their  fabrication  was 
an  art  practised  by  certain  persons,  these  hoards  may  have  been  their 
stock.  In  trenching  a  piece  of  very  rough  stony  ground,  at  Cults,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Dee,  a  few  miles  from  Aberdeen,  several  years  since, 
about  thirty  of  them  were  found  under  a  large  stone;  and,  in  laboring  a 
waste  part  of  a  farm  in  the  brae  of  Essie,  a  similar  deposit  was  discov- 
ered. These  singular  facts  prove  the  care  with  which  those  little  im- 
plements were  preserved. 

Their  most  common  and  simple  form  is  a  lozenge,  more  acute  at  one 
end  than  the  other;  some  are  barbed  on  each  side.  One  which  was 
found  at  Connemara,  in  Ireland,  had  no  middle  point,  but,  from  the  print, 
it  does  not  appear  whether  this  part  is  in  its  original  state, |  One  of  those 
found  at  Essie  had  the  middle  part  very  neatly  perforated. 

These  stone  heads  were  fixed,  it  is  supposed,  in  a  small  cavity,  adapt- 
ed for  this  purpose,  in  the  end  of  the  shaft.  Such  a  mode  of  pointing 
arrows  was  very  common  in  recent  times,  the  shaft  being  formed  with  a 
hollow  at  one  end.  In  Scotland  the  flint  arrow  heads  are  denominated 
elf  shot,  from  a  firm  belief,  among  the  common  people,  that  they  are  of 
no  human  formation,  but  the  shot  with  which  the  elves,  or  fairies,  assail 
cattle,  and  even  attempt  the  destruction  of  human  beings,  either  for  their 
amusement,  or  from  a  spirit  of  malevolence,  J 

This  superstition  exists  in  full  strength,  even  among  people  whose 
education,  one  might  suppose,  would  prevent  the  indulgence  of  so  ridicu- 
lous an  idea,  and  various  practices  are  resorted  to  in  order  to  avert  or 
counteract  the  designs  of  these  evil  spirits,  I  have  heard  several  per- 
sons speak  of  having  been  struck  with  them,  fortunately  not  with  suffi- 
cient force  to  produce  a  wound,  in  the  most  positive  manner,  and  many 
more  have  declared  that  they  have  often  witnessed  the  cattle  laboring 
under  the  efl^ects  of  this  unearthly  shot.  It  is,  indeed,  acknowledged 
that  now,  when  the  Scriptures  have  become  so  fully  disseminated,  the  elves 

Sir  T.  Dick  Lauder,  in  Trans,  of  Scots  Antiquaries,  iii.  99. 
t  Archa3ologia,  xv.  394, 

t  The  Manx  believe  that  the  first  inhabitants  of  their  island  were  fairies,  who  were 
extremely  fond  of  hunting.    Waldron's  Hist. 
39 


226 


STONE  ARROW  HEADS. 


have  been  restrained  from  so  free  a  range,  and  it  is  only  occasionally 
that  any  of  the  cattle  are  "  shot  a  dead." 

In  Bovven's  Geography,  printed  in  1747,  we  find  it  related  that  the 
"county  of  Aberdeen  has  one  sort  of  stones,  which  seem  to  be  of  the 
flint  kind — they  are  always  found  by  chance,  and  often  in  the  roads, 
where  none  were  to  be  seen  an  hour  or  two  before,  and  sometimes  they 
are  discovered  in  the  boots,  &c.  of  travellers;  and  as  they  are  generally 
found  in  the  summer,  when  the  sky  is  clear,  naturalists  conclude  they 
are  formed  in  the  air,  by  some  gross  exhalations!"  Sir  Robert  Sibbald 
also  notices  their  frequency  in  Aberdeenshire.*  A  clergyman,  about 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  says  they  are  shaped  like  a  barbed 
arrow  head,  but  flung,  like  a  dart,  with  great  force! 

When  cattle  are  unfortunately  struck  by  these  malicious  elves,  they 
breathe  hard  and  refuse  all  food,  by  which  tokens  it  is  easily  understood 
what  has  befallen  them.  Those  women  who  are  "  canny"  immediately 
begm  carefully  to  examine  the  animal,  until  they  find  where  the  arrow 
head  has  wounded  them;  and  this  is  a  matter  of  no  little  difficulty,  for 
the  skin  is  never  perforated,  but  the  hole  is  found  in  the  inner  membrane, 
In  Aberdeenshire  they  are  accustomed  to  cure  the  elf  shot  by  an  appli- 
cation of  salt  and  tar,  prepared  with  due  solemnity.  In  other  parts,  the 
place  where  the  animal  has  been  struck  is  well  rubbed  with  salt,  and  a 
quantity  of  it  dissolved  in  water,  wherein  silver,  or  an  elf  shot  has  been 
dipped,  is  poured  down  the  throat,  and  some  is  also  sprinkled  on  the 
ears.  The  animal  then  begins  to  breathe  easier,  and,  in  the  course  of 
an  hour,  will  recover.  Cattle  who  die  of  this  disease,  or,  rather,  acci- 
dent, exhibit  mortified  spots  in  those  parts  where  the  shot  is  believed  to 
have  entered,  for  it  is  not  the  least  mysterious  circumstance  that  the 
«hot  itself  is  never  found  in  the  flesh,  but  is  often  picked  up  near  the 
animal.  However  strange  it  may  appear,  very  respectable  authorities 
haye  borne  testimony  to  the  existence  of  such  spots,  or  holes,  under  the 
skin,  as  well  as  to  the  efficiency  of  the  prescribed  cure.  That  there  is 
such  a  malady  is  certain,  and  the  mode  of  treating  it  may  be  successful. 
The  superstitious  observances  attending  the  application  are  derived  from 
those  times  when  the  efficacy  of  all  prescriptions  were  believed  to  de- 
pend on  the  virtues  imparted  by  the  ceremonies  with  which  they  were 
prepared.  None  of  the  herbs,  so  celebrated  for  their  sanative  proper- 
ties during  the  existence  of  Druidism,  were  gathered  or  administered 
without  the  most  scrupulous  adherence  to  established  forms. 

In  consequence  of  the  popular  persuasion  that  these  singular  stones 
are  really  the  ofiensive  weapons  of  "  the  fair  folk,"  it  is  difficult  to  pre- 
vail with  those  who  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  with  one,  to  part 
with  it,  for  it  is  firmly  believed,  that  so  long  as  an  elf  shot  is  preserved, 
neither  the  cattle  nor  the  owner  is  liable  to  be  molested  by  these  insidi- 
ous enemies.    They  are,  therefore,  carried  about  the  person,  or  careful- 


*  Plott's  Hist,  of  Staffordshire. 


BOW  AND  ARROWS. 


227 


ly  deposited  in  the  guidwife's  kist,  and  sometimes  they  are  even  set  m 
silver.* 

I  have  been  able  to  collect  fourteen  or  fifteen  of  them,  but  have  often 
observed  a  party,  from  whom  I  was  soliciting  them,  assume  a  look  of 
considerable  gravity,  apparently  suspecting  that  I  had  some  other  reason 
for  my  request  than  motives  of  mere  curiosity. 

After  the  art  of  working  metals  was  discovered,  mankind  would  soon 
avail  themselves  of  its  use  in  pointing  their  arrows.  The  Scythians,  so 
early  as  the  time  of  Herodotus,  had  their  arrow  heads  of  brass,  and  he 
relates  a  story  which  shows  that  they  must  have  had  very  great  numbers 
of  them.  The  time  when  iron,  or  brass,  became  the  substitute  for  the 
rude  flint  of  the  primitive  Celts  is  unknown.  In  the  earliest  history  of 
the  Caledonians  we  find  metal  in  use,  and  in  one  of  Ossian's  poems  we 
even  read  of  an  arrow  of  gold!  In  the  seventeenth  century  they  had 
*'  arrows  for  the  most  part  hooked,  with  a  barbie  on  either  side,  which, 
once  entered  within  the  body,  could  not  be  drawn  forth  again,  unless 
the  wound  was  made  wider."  There  seems  to  have  been  something 
peculiar  in  the  form  of  these  points,  which  made  a  most  galling  wound. 
Spenser  describes  the  Scots  of  Ulster  as  having  their  arrows  "  tipped 
with  Steele  heads,  made  like  common  broad  arrow  heads,  but  much  more 
sharpe  and  slender,  so  that  they  enter  into  a  man  or  horse  most  cruelly, 
notwithstanding  that  they  are  shot  forth  weakely.""!" 

The  old  Caledonian  arrows  were  of  birch,  feathered  in  the  usual  man- 
ner, and  carried  by  the  side.  Perhaps  the  Celts  stuck  them  in  the  belt, 
as  the  English  and  Scots  were  afterwards  accustomed  to  do;  but  a  figure, 
supposed  to  represent  a  Gaul,  discovered  in  Northumberland,  has  a 
quiver  suspended  at  his  right  hip.  Cambrensis  informs  us  the  common 
Welsh  carried  the  arrows  in  their  hand.  The  ancient  Britons  had,  how- 
ever, generally  quivers  of  osier;  some  of  twisted  brass,  but  unknown 
antiquity,  have  been  found.  The  Gael  had  them  formed  of  badger's 
skin. J  Their  strings  are  said  to  have  been  of  hemp,  but  they  were,  it 
is  believed,  also  formed  of  the  intestines  of  animals.  It  is  reckoned 
good  policy  to  *'have  two  strings  to  a  bow."  A  seal,  found  in  the  field 
of  Bannockburn,  represented  a  figure  carrying  a  bow,  provided  with 
two  strings,  both  fixed;  and  a  law  of  Charlemagne  refers  to  "  arcum 
cum  duabus  cordis." 

An  ancient  amusement  of  the  Scotish  bowmen,  was  shooting  at  the 
pepingoe,  or  popingay,  and  there  is  a  society  regularly  established,  in 
1688,  at  Kilwinning,  in  Airshire,  where  this  mark  is  projected  from  the 
church  steeple,  and  the  archers,  resting  their  left  foot  close  to  the  base 
of  the  wall,  shoot  perpendicularly.  The  royal  archers  of  Scotland,  who 
have  the  honor  to  be  the  king's  body  guard  in  that  kingdom,  and  enjoy 
certain  privileges,  were  incorporated  by  Queen  Anne. 

*  Vallancey  says  the  Irish  set  them  in  silver,  and  wear  them  about  the  neck  as  am- 
ulets.   Collect.  Hib. 

t  Spenser.  Carrying  bows  and  arrows  were  restrained,  lb.  22.  Hist  of  Ireland,  1626. 
t  Prosnacha  Fairge  of  Clan  Rannald. 


CAVALRY. 


The  Highlanders  do  not  appear,  in  recent  times,  to  have  had  cav- 
alry, but  the  old  Gael  had  certainly  considerable  bodies  of  horsemen.  In 
proof  of  this,  a  poem  of  John  Lorn  Mac  Donald,  who  lived  fn  the  time 
of  Charles  II.,  addressed  to  Clanrannald,  may  be  quoted,  where  there 
is  a  verse  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation: 

"  When  thou  didst  take  up  arms  in  the  cause  of  thy  King,  thy  saddles  covered  a 
thousand  dark  gray  coursers."* 

The  author  of  a  journey  in  Scotland,  1729,  says  the  Frasers,  were 
mostly  composed  of  gentlemen  on  horseback.  The  Caledonians  long 
preserved  a  celebrity  for  horsemanship,  which  was  inherited  from  their 
remote  ancestors,  the  Celtic  tribes  of  Britain  and  the  continent,  who 
were  equally  renowned  for  their  well  trained  cavalry.  The  chief  strength 
of  their  armies  consisted  in  infantry,  but  Strabo  asserts  that  the  horse- 
men were  most  efficient,  and  Plutarch  attests  the  excellence  of  this 
branch  of  their  military  .|  Tacitus  particularly  celebrates  the  Tencteri, 
and  Csesar  acknowledges  the  admirable  manner  in  which  the  Gallic^ 
German,  and  British  cavalry  opposed  and  thwarted  his  ambitious  de- 
signs. At  the  battle  of  Cannae,  the  Celtic  horsemen  behaved  with  a 
firmness  and  intrepidity  which  excited  the  praises  of  their  enemies. 

In  the  Northern  regions,  we  are  told  by  Pliny,  the  horses  were  wild, 
and  roamed  about  in  great  herds,  but  the  Gauls  and  Germans  must  have 
had  them  domesticated  and  broken  into  great  docility,  and  so  much  were 
they  esteemed,  that  the  Romans,  according  to  Strabo,  procured  the 
chief  part  of  their  horses  from  Gaul.  By  Tacitus  they  are  considered 
less  remarkable  for  their  fleetness  than  for  keeping  excellent  order, 
marching  with  the  greatest  regularity.  Those  of  Celtiberia  were  small, 
but  had  a  graceful  pace,  and  were  taught  to  stoop,  that  their  riders 
might  be  able  to  mount  with  facility  ;J  those  of  Lusitania  were  extremely 
fleet. §  The  rude  warriors  of  distant  ages,  robust,  and  inured  to  pri- 
vations and  fatigue,  bred  their  horses  to  extreme  labor  and  hardihood. 
We  are  told  that  the  Sarmatians,  a  German  people  celebrated  as  eques- 
trians, when  preparing  for  a  long  journey,  gave  their  horses  no  meat  for 
two  days,  but  supplied  them  with  a  little  drink  and  galloped  them  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  on  a  stretch! 

The  British  horses  are  described  by  Tacitus  and  Dio  as  diminutive,, 
but  extremely  swift,  spirited,  and  hardy,  resembling  those  of  the  pre- 
sent Highlanders,  which  were  in  general  allowed  until  lately,  like  the 
race  in  Shetland,  to  live  in  almost  natural  wildness. 

The  small  native  Highland  horses  are  termed  garrons,  and  although 
now  semi-domesticated,  it  is  often  a  work  of  much  trouble  to  catch  them 
when  they  are  turned  loose  on  the  hills.  To  accomplish  this,  they  are 
sometimes  driven  up  a  steep  hill,  where  the  nearest  pursuer  endeavors 
to  catch  them  by  the  hind  leg,  both  not  unfrequently  tumbling  down 
together;  sometimes  they  are  hunted  until  fatigue  compels  them  to  lie 

*  Turner's  Collection,  p.  87.  t  The  whole  force  of  the  Catti  consisted  of  foot, 

t  Strabo.  §  Pliny,  lib.  viii. 


CAVALRY. 


dowTi.  An  entertaining  writer,  who  visited  the  country  many  years  ago, 
gives  the  following  description  of  the  method  of  breaking-in  these  unruly 
animals,  as  he  witnessed  it  in  Inverness-shire.  A  man  had  tied  a  rope 
about  the  hind  leg;  the  horse  was  kicking  and  struggling  violently,  while 
the  Highlander  continued  to  beat  it  unmercifully  with  a  large  stick, 

and  sometimes  the  garron  was  down,  and  sometimes  the  Highlander 
was  down,  and  not  seldom  both  of  them  together,  but  still  the  man  kept 
his  hold,"  and  succeeded  in  reducing  the  horse  to  perfect  docility. 

The  ancient  Caledonians  were  celebrated  for  the  use  of  horses  in  war. 
Their  descendants  neglected  this  arm,  without  entirely  disusing  it.  They 
are  said  to  have  had  the  greatest  dread  of  cavalry,  their  fears  being  aug- 
mented by  an  idea  that  the  horses  were  taught  to  fight  with  their  feet  as 
well  as  to  bite.  They  certainly  evinced  no  such  terror  in  1745,  when 
they  so  often  defeated  them.  On  the  contrary,  the  rebels  entertained 
great  contempt  for  cavalry,  having  so  easily  overthrown  the  dragoons. 
The  manosuvre  by  which  this  was  accomplished  consisted  in  striking  at 
their  heads,  and  slashing  the  mouths,  which  infallibly  sent  them  to  the  right 
about.  An  old  follower  of  the  Mac  Intoshes  told  me  he  saved  his  life 
at  Culloden  by  this  mode  of  defence,  against  some  horsemen.  The 
cavalry  in  the  Highland  army  on  this  occasion,  besides  the  French  piquet, 
were  chiefly  from  the  Low  Country.  The  Irish  were  celebrated  horse- 
men to  a  late  period,  and  their  horses  were  of  the  same  small  breed.  It 
was  apparently  from  their  size  that  they  were  called  Hobbies,  whence 
the  cavalry  were  denominated  Hobblers.  These  troops  were  not,  in- 
deed, all  provided  with  arms,  but  they  were  found  serviceable  in  the 
English  armies,  and  paid  according  to  their  equipments.  Two  thousand 
were  ordered  against  the  Scots  by  Edward  II.,  and  %t  the  siege  of  Ca- 
lais, in  1347,  many  were  employed.  The  nobles  had  much  pride  in  the 
appearance  of  their  horses.  Paul  Jovius  says  he  saw  twelve  of  a  beau- 
tiful white  color,  adorned  with  purple  and  silver  reins,  led,  without 
riders,  in  the  train  of  the  Pope.  A  French  writer,  describing  the  expe- 
dition of  Richard  II.  to  Ireland,  in  1399,  says,  Mac  Murrough's  horse 
cost  400  cows,  but  he  rode  without  either  stirrups  or  saddle.  The  Cel- 
tic riders  do  not  appear  to  have  used  these  articles.  A  bridle  seems  to 
be  indispensable;  yet,  in  the  sculpture  of  Antoninus's  column,  &c.  they 
are  usually  represented  without  reins,  sustaining  themselves,  when  at 
full  gallop,  by  clinging  to  the  neck  or  mane.  Sometimes  a  single  rein 
is  seen;  and  a  cord,  or  fillet,  is  in  some  cases  carried  once  or  twice 
round  the  neck.  Alexander  I.  offered  a  favorite  Arabian  horse  at  the 
altar  of  St.  Andrew's  Church,  the  saddle,  bridle,  and  velvet  housings  of 
which  were  splendidly  ornamented.  The  Welsh,  whose  horses  were  of 
the  same  diminutive  and  hardy  breed  as  the  Scots  and  Irish,  and  who 
retained  the  national  partiality  for  the  use  of  cavalry,  had  a  conside- 
rable number  at  the  battle  of  Agincourt,  1415,  none  of  whom  had  sad- 
dles. The  Irish,  some  centuries  since,  notwithstanding  they  neither 
used  stirrups  nor  saddle,  were  very  expert  equestrians,  being  accustom- 


230 


CAVALRY. 


ed  to  vault  on  horses  while  running  at  their  utmost  speed,  and  although 
they  bore  the  spear  above  the  head,  yet  many  acknowledged  they 
had  '*  never  met  with  more  comely  or  brave  chargers."  About  two 
hundred  years  ago  they  occasionally  used  a  pad  without  stirrups, 
but  it  was  thought  strange  that  the  women  should  ride  with  their  faces 
to  the  right  side.*  It  does  not  appear  that  shoes  for  horses  were  con- 
sidered necessary  by  the  Celts.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Isles,  and  many 
districts  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  at  the  present  day,  prove  that 
these  articles  are  not  indispensable.  The  horses  travel  in  these  parts 
without  inconvenience,  and  with  the  surest  footing,  over  the  hard  flinty 
rocks,  and  along  the  most  intricate  and  precipitous  tractways.  They  do 
not  seem  formerly,  in  any  case,  to  have  been  shod,  and  so  little  is  it  yet 
attended  to,  that,  in  some  districts,  the  blacksmiths  can  neither  make 
shoes,  nor  put  them  on! 

The  Gallic,  German,  and  Scythian  horsemen,  as  seen  in  the  remains 
of  ancient  sculpture,  wore  the  sagum,  thrown  over  the  naked  shoulders, 
and  enveloping  the  rider  much  like  the  cloak  of  the  modern  cavalry. 
They  carried  a  shield  and  javelin,  to  which  a  sword  was  sometimes  ad- 
ded. Similar  arms  were  borne  by  the  British  tribes,  and  retained  until 
late  ages  by  the  inhabitants  of  Wales.  The  Irish,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  used  also  a  staff. | 

The  Celtic  cavalry  consisted  of  horsemen  and  charioteers,  the  troops 
s.erving,  in  either  way,  according  to  circumstances.  They  were  always 
attended  by  footmen,  who  were  ready  to  succor  their  masters  when 
wounded  or  overpowered,  and  were  able  also  to  fight  in  their  stead. 
These  followers  were  chosen  by  the  warriors  from  their  own  kindred, 
and  they  had  thus  an  opportunity  of  selecting  the  best  qualified  and 
most  faithful  of  their  followers,  who,  like  the  attendants  of  the  knights 
of  the  middle  ages,  had  opportunity  of  rising  to  distinction  under  the 
eye  of  their  superiors.  How  striking  is  the  similarity  of  this  practice  to 
that  of  the  Scotish  Gael!  It  is  related  of  Hannibal,  that,  before  the  bat- 
tle with  Sempronius,  he  picked  out  one  thousand  horse  and  as  many 
foot,  and  ordered  each  to  choose  nine  others  from  the  whole  army.  As 
this  general  had  a  numerous  body  of  Gauls  in  his  service,  from  which 
people  the  Carthaginians  always  recruited  their  forces,  it  is  not  improb- 
able that  he  imitated  the  practice  of  the  Celts  in  this  case,  for  we  find 
him,  on  other  occasions,  paying  some  deference  to  their  opinion.  The 
Romans,  who  were  noted  for  adopting  every  thing  advantageous  in  the 
tactics  of  other  nations,  perhaps  formed  their  Velites  on  the  Celtic 
plan. 

We  find,  also,  that  the  Gallic  horsemen  were  sometimes  accompanied 
by  two  servants,  who,  on  the  marches,  attended  to  the  wagons  and 
baggage,  but  were  provided  with  horses,  and  fought  bravely  in  battle. 
They  posted  themselves  in  the  rear,  and  supplied  their  masters  with 
horses,  if  dismounted,  or,  if  killed,  one  took  his  place,  and,  if  he  also 


Spenser,  Riche,  Stanihurst,  &c. 


t  Riche,  p.  96. 


WAR  CHARIOTS. 


2S1 


fell,  the  other  was  ready  to  succeed  him.  This  mode  of  fighting  they 
called  trimarcisias,  from  the  word  marca,  a  horse.*  To  this  day,  marc, 
in  the  Gaelic  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  has  the  same  signification;!  in 
Welsh  and  Armoric  there  is  march,  in  Cornish  marh.  The  term  is 
therefore  a  compound  of  tri,  three,  and  marca,  horse!  The  same  mode 
of  fighting  was  practised  by  the  Irish,  who  had  two  regular  horsemen, 
and  another  whose  business  it  was  to  attend  to  the  animal.  J  These  last 
were  the  Horse  boys.  The  chosen  bands  of  the  Persians,  and  others, 
did  not  attack  the  enemy  until  those  who  were  engaged  had  all  been 
slain;  but  the  Celts,  on  the  contrary,  continued  to  fill  up  the  places  of 
such  as  fell.  Vegetius  says,  that  among  the  Gauls  and  Celtiberians 
these  bodies  amounted  to  six  thousand  men.  Dumnorix,  an  ^duan 
chief,  kept  constantly  a  great  number  of  horsemen  in  his  pay,  who  at- 
tended him  wherever  he  went.§  These  men  were  so  strong  and 
swift  of  foot,  that,  seizing  the  horses'  mane,  when  running,  they  could 
easily  keep  pace  with  them. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  in  a  Celtic  army  was  the  body  of  chari- 
oteers, who  performed  their  evolutions  with  surprising  dexterity  and 
direful  effect.  The  Britons  were  indeed  so  expert  in  this  manner  of 
fighting,  that  it  is  believed  to  have  originated  with  them,  an  opinion  that 
may  have  arisen  from  the  superiority  of  their  tactics,  and  the  practice 
becoming  less  frequent  on  the  continent.  Much  conjectural  discussion 
has  arisen  respecting  the  form  and  construction  of  the  battle  chariots. 
Some  antiquaries  have  supposed  that  they  resembled  the  Irish  cars,  or 
the  rude  carts  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  Wales  ;||  but  it  is  impossible 
to  believe  that  the  British  chariots,  if  not  superior  to  those  mean  and 
awkward  vehicles,  could  have  excited  so  particularly  the  notice  of  the 
Romans,  or  made  so  great  an  impression  on  their  veteran  legions.  In- 
considerable as  the  commerce  of  the  Britons  may  have  been  in  those  dis- 
tant ages,  it  can  be  reasonably  presumed  they  were  not  destitute  of  many 
cars,  for  the  purposes  of  traffic.  The  extended  tractways,  formed  with 
sufficient  care  to  preserve,  even  yet,  well  defined  remains,  were  surely 
constructed  for  such  conveyances. 

Celtic  armies  were  always  accompanied  by  numerous  wagons,  even 
when  there  was  little  or  no  baggage  to  be  removed;  and  we  learn  from 
Diodorus  that  they  used  chariots  in  travelling  as  well  as  in  war.  One 
description  was  called  Covinus.  Cobhain,  in  Gaelic,  signifies  a  box,  or 
any  similar  receptacle,  and  is  the  origin  of  the  English  coffin,  the  bh 
having  the  sound  of  v.  The  word,  if  originally  applied  to  the  battle  car, 
may  be  derived  from  cobh,  victory,  or  cobhuain,  to  hew  down  on  all 
sides,  in  allusion  to  the  hooks  and  scythes  with  which  these  vehicles  were 

*  Pausanias,  x.  19.    Diod.  v.  2. 

t  JHence  marcach,  a  rider ;  marchsluagh,  cavalry.  Cabal,  whence  the  Latin  Cab- 
allus,  is  another  term  for  this  animal  from  all,  a  horse,  and  cab,  mouth,  i.  e.  a  horse 
who  is  guided  by  the  mouth,  or  broken  in. 

t  Beckman's  Hist,  of  Invent,  ii.  p.  247.  §  Bello  Gall.  i.  15. 

j)  King's  Munimenta  Antiqua. 


WAR  CHARIOTS. 


provided,  both  in  Britain  and  on  the  continent.  The  old  Highlanders 
applied  this  term  to  a  sort  of  litter,  borne  between  two  horses,  in  manner 
of  a  bier.  The  word  is  now  lost  in  the  Gaelic,*  but  carbad,  of  similar 
import,  is  preserved,  and  this  word,  used  by  Ossian  and  other  bards  for 
the  war  chariot,  is  now  applied  to  a  coffin.  From  this  has  probably 
arisen  the  tradition  that  that  of  Cuthullin,  described  by  Ossian,  was  his 
funeral  car. 

Another  sort  of  chariots  were  called  Essedos;  and  Whitaker,  who 
notices  the  general  appellation  of  car-rhod,  wheeled  car,  says  they  were 
furnished  with  seats.  Du  Cange  says  the  covinus  was  currus  cathedra 
instructus,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  not  so;  the  name 
implies  that  they  were  not  encumbered  with  seats.  The  Essedarii  seem 
to  have  been  those  who  fought  in  the  first-rate  war  chariots,  drawn  by 
two  horses,  and  their  name  appears  to  be  one  of  those  ancient  Celtic 
words  that  no  longer  exist.  The  term  fonnadh,  synonymous  with  carbad, 
has  been  disused  by  the  Highlanders  for  ages. 

The  battle  cars  must  have  been  strongly  built,  to  sustain  the  violent 
concussions  produced  by  their  furious  encounters,  and  they  could  not 
have  been  constructed  at  all  without  the  possession  of  necessary  tools,  and 
a  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  arts.  I  am  here  obliged  to  differ  from 
that  excellent  antiquary.  Sir  R.  Hoare,  who  is  of  opinion  that  these  ve- 
hicles were  of  slight  construction,  and  finds  his  supposition  strengthened 
by  a  recent  discovery,  of  which  he  furnished  an  account  to  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries,  j"  In  a  fissure,  or  chink,  of  the  rock  at  Hamden  hill,  near 
Bath,  many  curious  articles  were  found;  among  which  were  fragments 
of  wheels,  conjectured  to  be  the  remains  of  war  chariots.  One  of  those 
was  nearly  perfect,  measured  two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  and  had 
contained  twelve  spokes.  It  was  only  two  inches  thick,  being  little 
stronger  than  a  grinder's  wheel,  and  how  a  construction  so  weak  could 
have  withstood  the  rough  jolting,  the  furious  driving,  and  the  violent 
shocks  of  a  contention  on  unequal  ground  is  not  easily  conceived.  The 
term  carbad-cogaidh,  literally  the  war  chariot,  used  by  the  ancient  bards, 
seems  to  distinguish  it  from  others,  and,  when  it  is  characterized  as 
"  rapid,"  it  is  expressive  of  the  velocity  with  which  it  was  driven. 

Diodorus  says  the  Gauls  and  Britons  used  the  war  chariot  just  as  the 
Trojans  did,  and  we  have  little  reason  to  believe  the  forms  were  very 
different;  a  description  of  those  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  may  there- 
fore be  applicable  to  the  others.  There  were  two  wheels,  of  no  greater 
diameter  than  the  height  of  a  man's  knee,  and  they  were  sometimes 
formed  of  wood,  firmly  joined  together  by  iron,  but  the  common  method 
was  with  four,  six,  or  eight  spokes,  the  fellies  being  shod  with  brass. 
The  axle-tree,  on  which  they  moved,  was  long,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
car  from  being  overset  by  the  inequalities  of  the  ground.  The  pole,  or 
temo,  was  very  strongly  fastened  to  the  axle,  and  so  well  secured  by 
two  diagonal  pieces  of  wood  that  no  instance  is  said  to  have  occurred  of 

*  Rev.  Dr.  Mac  Queen,  of  Kilmuir.  t  Archaeologia,  xxi. 


WAR  CHARIOTS. 


its  being  broken.  The  body  of  the  car  was  also  fixed  to  the  axle,  for 
farther  security,  and  the  chariot  could  therefore  be  driven  with  the  ut- 
most rapidity,  over  all  sorts  of  ground,  and  in  the  thickest  tumult  of  bat- 
tle, without  any  danger  of  being  overturned.  The  body  of  the  car  was 
open  behind,  and,  from  the  manner  of  harnessing,  this  part  fell  very  low. 
The  sides  that  were  here  little  higher  than  the  floor,  rose  gradually  to- 
wards the  front,  which  was  breast  high,  and  rounded  for  the  protection  of 
the  riders,  from  which  it  was  called  the  shield  part.  In  the  works  of  the 
bards  it  may  be  remarked,  quadrangular  chariots,  and  some  of  "many 
corners,"  are  spoken  of.  Fosbrooke  says  the  body  of  the  car  was  form- 
ed of  wicker;  the  harness  of  the  Greek  chariot  was  simple,  but  well 
adapted  for  the  purpose,  the  collar  and  the  body  girth  appearing  to  be 
the  only  parts  employed,  and  both  were  formed  of  broad  and  thick  leath- 
ern belts,  which  joined  across  the  horses'  withers;  on  these  were  laid 
the  ends  of  the  yoke,  which  was  formed  of  wood,  with  a  curve  fitting  the 
round  of  the  animal's  shoulders.  The  pole  was  fixed  to  the  yoke  by  a 
peg  inserted  in  a  hole,  and  was  farther  secured  by  a  stout  leathern  thong, 
which,  according  to  Homer,  was  about  fourteen  feet  in  length. 

The  Celtic  chariots  appear  to  have  been  usually  drawn  by  two  hor- 
ses abreast,  and  it  is  supposed  that  this  sort  were  the  Essedas,  which 
were  provided  with  the  scythe  blades,  the  covinus  being  drawn  by  one 
horse  only,  and  not  furnished  with  these  destructive  weapons.  This 
opinion  does  not  seem  well  founded,  for,  on  an  ancient  sculpture,  we 
see  an  armed  car  drawn  by  a  single  horse.  The  blades,  or  hooks,  were 
like  other  arms,  usually  of  bronze,  and  about  thirteen  inches  in  length.* 
It  is  customary  to  represent  them  attached  to  the  axle,  but  it  is  evident 
that,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  down  the  enemy,  they  must  have  been 
immovably  fixed  to  the  car.  If  the  description  of  Cuthullin's  chariot,  as 
preserved  in  the  poems  of  Ossian,  be  admitted  as  authentic,  the  cars  of 
the  Britons  will  be  found  to  have  closely  resembled  those  above  des- 
cribed, and  to  have  been  of  ingenious  construction.  The  investigations 
of  the  Highland  Society  have  discovered  that  the  translation  of  Mac 
Pherson  was  not  executed  with  sufficient  fidelity.  The  word  which  he 
renders  gems,  is  applied  to  pebbles,  which,  however,  may  comprise  those 
precious  stones  that  are  so  frequently  found  in  the  mountains.  There 
certainly  appears  to  be  nothing  improbable  in  the  bard's  account,  for  we 
know  that  the  Celts  were  always  remarked  for  a  strong  pride  of  dress 
and  ornament,  and  used,  long  before  the  value  of  coral,  as  an  export  to 
India,  became  known,  to  adorn  their  shields,  swords,  hehnets,  &c.  with 
it.  The  Irish  took  the  greatest  delight  in  the  splendor  of  their  cavalry 
accoutrements;  and,  in  a  comparatively  recent  period,  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  repress  their  extravagance,  by  a  statute  against  "the  use 
of  gilt  bridles  and  petronels."  The  Scots  were  equally  vain,  and  it  will 
be  hereafter  shown  that  the  Bardic  descriptions  are  not  inconsistent  with 
the  state  of  the  arts  in  those  remote  periods.     Propertius  says  that  the 

*  Fosbrooke's  Encyclopedia  of  Antiquities. 
30 


234  CALEDONIAN  BATTLE  CAR. 

car  was  often  painted,  and  the  yoke  embossed.*  Cuthullin  is  styled  the 
chief  of  the  noble  car,"  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  was  of 
superior  construction;  it  was  evidently  an  Esseda,  and  not  the  common 
sort,  and  a  prevalent  tradition  represents  it  with  four  horses. 

The  following  description  from  a  poem  in  the  possession  of  the  High- 
land Society,  differs  considerably  from  the  version  of  Mac  Pherson.  In 
the  first  volume  of  the  Highland  Society's  edition  of  the  works  of  Ossian 
is  another  translation  from  the  original  poems,  formerly  in  Mac  Pher- 
son's  possession,  which  shows  that,  however  beautiful  the  diction,  he  did 
not  perform  his  task  with  strict  fidelity. 

I  have  there  seen  the  car  of  battle, 

The  shining  car  of  many  corners  ! 

Moving  sometimes  slow,  and  sometimes  rapid, — 

Guided  by  the  skilful  and  the  wise  ! 

It  is  like  the  mist  which  bright  arises 

From  its  edge  of  mild  red  light, 

On  a  bare  and  stony  summit. 

Its  green  covering  is  formed  of  haircloth. 

On  its  wheel,  smooth  as  bone,  is  the  gloss  of  wax. 

Its  beams  of  yew,  with  full  grained  ears, 

And  spreading  bows  is  carved  ! 

Around  the  car 

Is  every  smooth  and  shining  pebble. 

The  gleaming  light,  which  darts  a  double  ray 

From  its  sides  of  crimson, 

Is  like  the  sparkling  whirl  of  the  sea, 

Round  a  ship,  when  the  moon  is  not  seen  on  the  flood. 

First  m  the  car  is  found 

The  gray,  the  swift,  the  leading  horse. 

The  large  thorough  passing,  quick  travelling. 

The  broad  breasted,  sure  eyed,  and  equal  paced. 

The  high  spirited,  well  trained,  and  wide  leaping  steed, 

Whose  name  is  Lia-maishah,  (the  handsome  gray.) 

Last  in  the  car  is  found 

The  strong  hoofed  and  powerful  horse, 

The  long  flanked,  proudly  bounding. 

Small  shanked,  thin  maned. 

High  headed,  quick  paced  ; 

The  light  bellied,  snorting,  eager  steed, 

Whose  name  is  Dusronmor,  (black,  with  large  nostrils.) 

In  the  centre  of  the  car  are  found. 

For  the  support  of  the  generous  steeds. 

The  arms  known  to  fame. 

The  light,  broad  plated  darts, 

Of  rapid  flight  and  deadly  aim. 

The  narrow  but  firm  reins, 

The  precious  highly  polished  bits,  which  shine  in  the  mouth. 
Lockers  containing  coverlets  and  glistening  gems, 
The  beautiful  furniture  of  the  steeds. 

«  *  >t  *t  »  * 


*  "  EssedsB  coelatis  siste  Britannici  jugis,"  ii. 

t  Dr.  Mac  Queen,  of  Kilmuir,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Blair. 


CHARIOT  EXERCISE. 


235 


Within  the  car  is  the  strong  armed  hero  of  swords, 
Whose  name  is  Cuchullin,  the  son  of  Semo, 
Son  of  Suvalta,  son  of  Begalt. 
His  red  cheek  is  hke  the  poHshed  yew  : 

Lofty  the  look  of  liis  blue  rolling  eye  beneath  the  arch  of  his  brow. 
His  bushy  hair  is  a  waving  flame, 
As  coming  towards  us,  a  fiery  bolt. 
He  wields  both  his  forward  spears.* 

The  rest  of  this  curious  poem  is  wanting.  It  would  appear  from  it 
that  the  horses  were  yoked  in  line,  but  other  translations  represent  them 
abreast.  These  also  describe  the  gems  as  ornamenting  the  horses' 
manes. 

The  use  of  the  chariot  was  confined  to  kings  and  commanders  ;|  and 
of  the  two  riders,  the  most  honorable  held  the  reins,  from  which  he  ac- 
quired the  bardic  appellation  of  the  ruler  of  the  car.  In  drawing  up  an 
army,  the  Celts  placed  the  horsemen  and  chariots  at  the  extremity  of 
each  wing,  as  we  learn  from  Polybius  and  Tacitus,  but  they  were  also 
accustomed  to  mix  light-armed  foot  with  the  cavalry,  for  the  purpose  of 
stabbing  the  enemies'  horses,  and  overthrowing  the  riders.  J  The  at- 
tack commenced  by  driving  furiously  up  and  down,  or  rather  bearing 
down  transversely  along  the  front  of  the  enemies'  line,  when  by  discharg- 
ing their  darts,  or  saunians,  they  broke  the  ranks  and  opened  a  way  for 
the  infantry.  When  this  was  accomplished,  they  dismounted  and  fought 
with  their  swords;  the  drivers  retiring  to  a  little  distance,  placed  them- 
selves in  reserve  to  assist  those  that  were  most  hotly  pressed,  and  secure 
the  retreat  of  the  warriors,  should  they  be  defeated. §  In  order  to  avoid 
the  danger  of  the  furious  onset,  Alexander  ordered  his  troops,  when  en- 
gaged with  the  Thracians,  who  had  a  multitude  of  cars,  to  lay  themselves 
flat  on  the  ground,  and,  covering  themselves  with  their  shields,  to  allow 
the  enemies'  cavalry  to  pass  over  them.  The  chariot  attack  was  so 
terrific,  that  the  noise  of  the  horses  and  rattling  of  the  wheels,  alone, 
were  sometimes  sufficient  to  throw  the  firmest  troops  into  confusion.  The 
Roman  legions  suffered  excessively  from  the  destructive  charges  of  the 
Gallic  battle  car.  The  admirable  manner  in  which  it  was  managed  by 
the  Britons  is  attested  by  the  great  Caesar.  In  the  most  steep  and  dif- 
ficult places,"  says  he,  "  they  can  stop  their  horses  when  at  full  speed, 
turn  them  which  way  they  please,  run  along  the  pole,  rest  on  the  har- 
ness, and  throw  themselves  back  into  their  chariots  with  incredible  dex- 
terity." Such  feats  are  only  seen  in  our  days  at  places  for  equestrian 
exhibitions.  The  choicest  phalanx  of  Roman  veterans  was  shaken  by 
the  British  covinarii,  whose  numbers  were  astonishingly  great,  for,  after 
Cassivellanus  had  disbanded  his  army  in  despair,  he  reserved  four  thou- 
sand cars  as  a  small  body  guard,  who,  thus  reduced,  were  yet  so  formi- 
dable to  the  Romans  that  Cnesar  strictly  forbade  his  troops  to  venture 

*  Report  on  the  poems  of  Ossian,  p.  205. 
t  Tacitus,  Vita  Agricolae.  Adomnan,  i.  c.  7. 

t  Bello  Gall.  vii.    Amm.  Mar.  xvi.  10.  §  Belle  Gall.  v.  12. 


S36 


RACE  COURSES. 


any  distance  from  the  camp,  although  his  army  consisted  of  five  legions. 
It  was  a  favorite  manoeuvre  of  the  charioteers  to  feign  a  retreat,  in 
order  to  draw  the  cavalry  from  the  main  body,  when,  suddenly  alighting, 
they  encountered  the  pursuers  on  foot,  who  were  unable  to  contend  with 
a  manner  of  fighting  to  which  their  usual  tactics  were  so  unequal,  and 
which  was  rendered  more  dangerous  by  the  Celtic  principle  of  fighting 
in  Clans.  In  that  most  ancient  poem,  the  Tainbo  of  Cualgne,  a  chariot 
fight  is  described.  Linchets,  or  deep  cuts  like  terraces,  on  the  sides  of 
hills  and  in  the  vicinity  of  intrenchments,  were  probably  for  the  ascent 
and  descent  of  the  cars. 

It  is  evident  that  great  skill  was  requisite  in  the  management  of  the 
war  chariot.  From  an  ancient  coin,  the  driver  appears  to  correct  the 
horses  with  a  bundle  of  rods  in  place  of  a  whip.  Steadiness  was  most 
essential  as  well  m  advancing  as  in  wheeling,  wherein  it  is  thought  that 
the  chief  excellence  in  driving  was  displayed.  Indeed,  without  an  amaz- 
ing dexterity  in  managing  the  carbad,  the  whole  body  must  have  been 
thrown  into  disorder  and  confusion,  and  their  own  line  of  infantry  broken 
through.  The  Celts,  more  particularly  the  British  tribes,  were  extreme- 
ly proud  of  this  part  of  the  army,  on  which  they  placed  so  much  depend- 
ance,  and  it  was  therefore  an  object  of  national  importance  to  have  the 
troops  well  trained  and  exercised  in  the  various  evolutions  peculiar  to 
the  service.  Chariot  races  were  undoubtedly  very  popular  amusements 
of  antiquity,  notwithstanding  the  assertion  of  Pausanias,  that  the  prac- 
tice was  "  neither  an  ancient  invention  nor  attended  with  graceful  execu- 
tion."* Of  so  much  importance  did  the  Britons  consider  these  races, 
zhat  they  appear  to  have  made  their  celebration  a  religious  duty,  from 
a  cursus  being  found  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  places  of  worship,  the 
most  remarkable  instance  of  which  is  found  on  Salisbury  plain,  near  the 
celebrated  Stonehenge.  This  race  course  is  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  wide,  and  rather  more  than  three  quarters  of  a  mile  long.  The 
seats  for  the  judges,  or  the  career,  is  placed  at  one  end,  and  is  raised 
terracewise.  From  this  place  the  racers  started,  and  turned  round  two 
mounds  at  the  other  end.  It  has  been  observed  that  if  several  chariots 
contended,  it  must  follow  that  those  on  the  outside,  having  a  greater 
circuit  to  make  than  the  inner  rank,  the  equality  between  the  competi- 
tors was  destroyed;  but  I  am  of  opinion  that  this  would  be  entirely  obvi- 
ated by  the  chariots  being  arranged,  before  starting,  in  a  diagonal  line, 
from  the  corner  of  the  career  towards  the  side  of  the  cursus,  a  form  that 
would,  besides,  allow  the  judges  to  have  a  proper  view  of  those  who 
were  to  run. 

There  is  another  hypodrome  about  half  a  mile  distant,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  retain  its  ancient  name  in  Rawdikes,  derived  from  Rhedagua, 
a  race  ground. |    Another  is  seen  near  Dorchester;  one  is  in  the  vicini- 

*  Lib.  V.  c.  9 ;  he  flourished  in  165. 
t  Pownal  on  the  Study  of  Antiquities. 


FIREARMS. 


237 


ty  of  Royston,  and  another  exists  on  the  bank  of  the  Lowther,  near 
Penrith.  Perhaps  the  annual  coursing  around  Cnoc  an  geal,  in  lona,  at 
the  feast  of  St.  Michael,  may  have  originated  among  the  pagan  Celts. 
The  Cur  ragh  of  Kildare,  in  Ireland,  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  cursus; 
its  n-ame  appears  to  come  from  comhruith,*  a  race-course.  There  is 
also  a  plain  called  Curraugh,  in  the  Isle  of  Man. 

Mis-merh,  the  horse-month,  was  the  name,  according  to  Pryce,  given 
to  March,  because  they,  at  that  time,  went  to  war  on  horse  back.f  The 
Britons  continued  to  fight  in  cars  in  the  time  of  Severus,  who  died  211, 
and  the  era  assigned  to  the  Caledonian  bard  is  the  end  of  that  century. 
In  the  sixth  century,  from  a  quotation  which  Gratianus  Lucius  inserts, 
we  find  of  the  Irish  "  coUecto  quando  exercitu  in  curribus  et  equitibus," 
&c.  At  this  time,  they  were  used  also  by  the  Scots.  From  some  Irish 
writers,  however,  if  they  can  be  credited,  it  would  appear  that,  about  the 
epoch  of  Christianity,  the  carbad  was  scarcely  known.  J  Pinkerton 
quotes  an  "  Essai  sur  I'histoire  de  Picardie,"  to  show  that,  so  late  as 
1182,  cars  were  used  in  Flanders. 

At  the  battle  of  Largs,  in  1263,  the  Scots'  horses  were  provided  with 
breastplates.^  It  appears,  from  Nichols'  Progresses  of  James  I.,  that 
the  practice  of  horse  racing,  now  so  popular  in  England,  was,  about 
that  time,  introduced  from  Scotland.  In  the  Harleian  MS.,  No.  681, 
under  the  year  1593,  it  is  stated  that  Earl  Both  well  was  to  be  at  Kelso, 
as  the  rumor  went,  "  to  exercise  the  runninge  and  speed  of  horses." 
In  Uist,  one  of  the  Western  Islands,  Martin,  who  visited  them  at  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  informs  us  there  were  yearly  horseraces. 

The  Gauls  used  dogs  in  war.  Appian  relates  that  a  Celtic  Ambassa- 
dor's body  guard  was  composed  of  these  trusty  animals.  The  AUobroges 
also  kept  numbers  of  them  for  this  service.  The  Cimbrians  having  left 
their  baggage  in  the  charge  of  their  dogs,  they  successfully  defended  it, 
after  the  defeat  of  the  army.||  The  ferocity  of  the  Celtic  dogs  rendered 
them  by  no  means  despicable  auxiliaries.  Those  of  the  Britons  were 
particularly  esteemed,  and  great  numbers  were  sent  to  Gaul,  to  be  used 
in  war,  being  much  superior  to  the  continental  breed.  I  do  not  find  that 
they  were  used  by  the  Caledonians  in  battle,  but  they  were  kept  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  notice  of  the  enemy's  approach. IT  The  Scots'  dogs 
were  famous  all  over  the  world  for  their  good  qualities.  The  Romans 
imported  great  numbers  from  Britain,  not  indeed  to  recruit  their  armies, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  hunting.** 

Firearms  were  introduced  to  Scotland  in  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  Barbour  relates  their  first  appearance,  along  with  an- 
other new  article,  at  the  siege  of  Berwick,  in  1338: 

*  The  mh  quiescent.  t  Archaeologia  Cornu-Britan. 

t  Ogygia,  p.  iii.  280,  &c.  §  Norwegian  Account  of  Haco's  expedition 

II  Pliny,  viii.  40.  IT  Smith's  Gall.  Ant. 

See  the  "  Cynegeticon"  of  Gratius  Falisius,  p.  74,  &c.  ed.  1728,  for  the  excellence 
of  dogs  in  war  and  the  chase. 


238 


PISTOLS. 


"  Twa  nowcltyes  that  day  they  saw, 
That  forouth  in  Scotland  had  been  nane  , 
Tymmeris  for  lielmys  war  the  tane, 
The  tothyr  Crakys  were  of  wer."  * 

Guns  succeeded  the  ancient  catapuhse,  formerly  termed  gynes.  The 
appellation  was  retained,  the  gyne  became  gun,  and  the  gynour  the  gun- 
ner. The  Gaelic  gunna  seems  but  a  variation  of  guineach,  an  arrow, 
or  dart,  which  is  derived  from  guin,  a  sharp  and  sudden  wound.  The 
Highlanders  seem  never  to  have  made  much  use  of  cannon,  although 
some  castles  were  provided  with  them,  and  the  rebel  army  in  1745  had 
several  pieces.  Their  firelocks  were  chiefly  obtained  from  the  continent, 
for  the  manufacture  does  not  appear  to  have  been  encouraged  among 
themselves.  The  guns  of  the  old  Highlanders  were  long,  and  of  a  pecu- 
liar construction,  like  that  represented  in  the  hand  of  the  Gordon  in  the 
engraving,  which  is  drawn  from  one  of  those  taken  in  the  last  rebellions, 
and  now  preserved  in  the  armory  of  the  Tower;  where  is  to  be  seen 
that  which  belonged  to  the  unfortunate  Earl  of  Mar,  curiously  and  richly 
ornamented  with  pearl,  &c.  It  is  of  the  time  of  James  VI.,  and  was 
originally  a  match-lock. 


Of  PISTOLS,  the  Highlanders  have  long  had  a  peculiar  and  very  beau- 
tiful manufacture.!  They  are  formed  entirely  of  metal,  and  differ  in 
several  respects  from  those  of  other  nations,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  en- 
graving. Both  were  carried  on  the  left  side,  one  being  suspended  in  the 
belt  which  secured  the  breacan,  and  the  other  in  one  fastened  across  the 
right  shoulder,  to  which  they  were  attached  by  means  of  a  long  slide, 
but  many  now  erroneously  carry  one  on  the  right  side.  The  Highlanders 
were  accustomed,  after  they  had  discharged  their  pistols,  to  throw  them 
forcibly  at  the  heads  of  the  enemy,  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  a  blow 
from  so  hard  a  weapon  would  make  no  slight  impression,  but  the  policy 
of  relinquishing  either  pistols  or  musket,  during  an  engagement,  may 
well  be  questioned.  The  Gael  alleged  that  they  were  relieved  of  encum- 
brances, and  that  if  they  won  the  battle,  they  could  easily  regain  their 
arms,  and,  if  defeated,  their  loss  was  not  of  so  much  consequence,  where 
their  possession  could  only  incommode  them,  and  retard  the  speed  of 

*  The  Bruce,  B.  xiv.392. 

f  Piostal,  seems  a  compound  of  pios,  a  piece,  the  Italian  pezzo,  Spanpiega,  &c.  Dag 
is  also  a  common  GaeUc  name  for  a  pistol. 


PISTOLS. 


239 


retreat.  This  reasoning,  I  am  afraid,  is  not  altogether  satisfactory,  but 
the  practice  was  observed  at  Preston  Pans,  and  at  Falkirk,  in  1745. 

The  manufacture  of  pistols  was  introduced  in  Doune,  a  village  in 
Perthshire,  about  1646,  by  Thomas  Caddel,  who  had  acquired  the  art 
at  Muthil,  a  place  in  Strathern,  from  which  he  removed  to  Doune,  where 
he  settled.  Caddel  taught  his  children  and  apprentices,  one  of  whom, 
called  John  Campbell,  was  a  proficient  in  his  trade;  and  his  son  and 
grandson  carried  on  the  business,  successively,  with  great  advantage. 
The  last-named  person,  who  retired  from  the  concern,  manufactured 
these  pistols  to  the  first  nobility  of  Europe.  Prince  Ferdinand  of  Bruns- 
wick, the  hereditary  Prince  of  Brunswick,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland, 
and  others,  provided  themselves  with  these  elegant  articles.  John  Mur- 
doch, who  succeeded  Campbell,  carried  on  the  manufacture  with  equal 
credit,  and  furnished  his  pistols  to  many  of  the  nobility  and  gentry,  but 
the  demand  was  much  reduced,  and  Doune  has  lost  its  former  celebrity 
for  the  fabrication  of  Highland  pistols,  which,  at  one  time,  had  a  superior 
reputation  in  France,  Germany,  and  other  countries.  A  pair  sold  at 
from  four  to  twenty-four  guineas.  A  tradesman,  who  was  taught  in  this 
celebrated  school,  fabricated  a  pair,  superbly  ornamented,  which  were 
purchased  by  the  magistrates  of  Glasgow,  and  presented  to  the  Marquis 
de  Boulle.* 

Campbell  and  Murdoch's  pistols  are  common;  Shiel  and  Caddel's  are 
less  so;  but  all  are  of  excellent  manufacture.  Many  pistols  bear  the 
name  of  Bisell,  and  those  in  the  Tower  appear  all  of  this  person's  work, 
which  is  plainer  and  less  neat  than  the  others.  I  have  observed  some 
of  the  Highland  pattern,  which  bore  the  names  of  foreign  artisans,  as 
Petit  Jean,  Liege,  &c.  They  are  sometimes  highly  ornamented  with 
silver,  gold,  and  even  precious  stones,  the  owner's  arms,  crest,  or  motto, 
being  usually  engraved.  The  little  knob  between  the  scrolls  is  the  top 
of  the  pricker,  which  is  made  to  unscrew. 

It  is  surprising  that  the  pistols  and  shot  pouch,  so  essential  and  elegant 
adjuncts  to  the  costume,  should  not  now  appear  in  the  dress  of  Highland 
officers.  The  policy  of  depriving  them  of  these  useful  and  ornamental 
appendages  to  their  uniform,  is  not  by  any  means  apparent. 

About  seventy  years  ago,  shooting  at  a  mark  was  a  favorite  recreation 
of  the  Highlanders.  It  was  much  practised  in  Aberdeenshire,  especially 
about  Christmas,  and  it  was  the  usual  method  for  the  decision  of  all  raf- 
fles, or  lotteries;  but  the  disarming  act  brought  these  amusements  to 
decay.  The  Highland  Club  of  Edinburgh,  which  cherishes  the  sports 
and  pastimes  of  the  Gael,  has  annual  competitions  in  various  athletic 
and  manly  exercises;  and,  at  the  last  meeting,  the  first  prize  for  rifle 
shooting  was  awarded  to  Cluny  Mac  Pherson,  chief  of  Clan  Chattan. 

The  Highlanders  advanced  to  an  attack  with  rapidity,  and  reserved 
their  fire  until  within  musket  length  of  the  enemy,  when  they  gave  a 
general  discharge,  and  threw  them  down.    They  then  drew  their  swords, 


*  Stat.  Account,  xx.  86. 


240 


FIXING  OF  THE  ARMS. 


and,  grasping  their  target,  darted  with  fury  on  their  adversaries,  and 
fought  in  the  manner  hefore  described.  They  frequently  used  the  dirk, 
also,  in  their  left  hand,  in  which  case  the  target  was  borne  on  the  wrist. 
An  officer  of  great  military  experience,  in  1745,  suggested  some  means, 
practised  by  Count  Munich  against  the  Turks,  to  counteract  the  effect 
of  the  Celtic  weapons  and  mode  of  attack,  which  he  thought  much  supe- 
rior to  those  of  the  regular  troops. 

On  the  passing  of  the  disarming  act,  after  1715,  the  Highlanders  were 
ordered  to  deliver  up  all  their  arms;  but  it  was  not  difficult,  in  many  cases, 
to  evade  the  operation  of  the  law.  The  loyal  clans  were  allowed  to  re- 
tain arms  to  protect  themselves  from  the  rebels,  who,  when,  obliged  to 
lay  down  their  weapons,  brought  all  those  that  were  useless,  and  retain- 
ed most  of  the  serviceable  part,  which  enabled  them  to  take  the  field,  in 
1745.  General  Wade  was  appointed  to  receive  the  arms  and  submission 
of  the  disaffected,  in  1724;  and,  as  the  Mac  Kenzies  had  been  most  ac- 
tive in  the  rising  of  1715,  they  were  first  called  upon,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants of  eighteen  parishes  summoned.  They  expressed  their  willingness 
to  submit  to  his  Majesty,  but  requested  that  their  surrender  should  not 
be  in  presence  of  any  other  clan,  but  to  the  King's  troops  only.  Their 
desire  was  complied  with,  and  they  were  also  allowed  to  name  the  place 
where  they  chose  to  make  their  submission.  Having  selected  Castle 
Brahan,  the  principal  seat  of  their  chief,  the  Marshal  proceeded  thither 
with  200  men,  and  was  there  met  by  the  chieflains  of  the  several  tribes, 
who,  with  their  followers,  "marched  in  good  order  through  the  great 
avenue,  and,  one  after  another,  laid  down  their  arms  in  the  court  yard 
in  great  quiet  and  decency,  amounting  to  784  of  the  several  species 
mentioned  in  the  act."  The  number  of  weapons  of  all  kinds  collected 
during  the  year  was  2685;  230  drovers,  foresters,  Stc.  being  licensed  to 
retain  theirs. 

In  concluding  this  description  of  the  Celtic  weapons,  some  singular 
customs  of  the  ancient  Scots  may  be  noticed.  It  was  usual  to  exchange 
arms  with  guests  for  whom  they  entertained  particular  respect,  or  they 
did  so  as  a  testimony  of  sincere  friendship,  and  a  pledge  of  lasting  peace. 
Those  arms  were  long  preserved,  in  the  different  families,  as  monuments  of 
former  transactions.  "  Nor  forgot  did  my  steps  depart:  the  chiefs  gave 
their  shields  to  Carul;  they  hang  in  Col-amon  in  memory  of  the  past." 
To  tell  one's  name  to  an  enemy,  is  said  to  have  been  deemed  an  evasion 
of  combat,  because,  when  it  was  known  that  friendship  had  formerly 
subsisted  between  their  ancestors,  the  fight  ceased.  "  I  have  been  re- 
nowned in  battle,  but  I  never  told  my  name  to  a  foe.  Yield  to  me,  then 
shalt  thou  know  that  the  mark  of  my  sword  is  in  many  a  field." 

When  a  warrior  became  old,  or  unfit  for  the  field,  he  fixed,  with  cer- 
tain formalities,  his  armor  in  the  hall  or  house;  and  this  impressive  peri- 
od was  called  the  time  of  fixing  the  arms.  The  last  of  a  race  resigned 
his  arms  to  the  tutelary  guardians  of  his  house.  These  weapons,  with 
the  spoils  of  war,  formed  the  chief  ornaments  in  the  dwellings  of  the 


TOWNS,  OR  FORTS. 


241 


ancient  Celts:  they  continued  to  grace  the  walls  of  castles  in  after  ages, 
and  are  still  displayed  in  the  mansions  of  those  who  preserve  the  ancient 
and  imposing  style  of  decoration.  The  favorite  weapons  of  the  Celts 
were  distinguished  by  appropriate  appellations.  The  sword  of  Fingal 
was  called  "Mac  an  Luin,"  from  its  celebrated  maker  Luno.  Others 
were  denominated  "  the  bird  of  prey,"  the  flame  of  the  Druids,"  &c. 
This  practice  was  common  to  the  Northern  nations:  in  Suhne's  History 
of  Denmark,  the  names  of  several  famous  swords  are  preserved. 

The  British  tribes,  at  the  period  of  the  first  Roman  descent,  appear  to 
have  been  all  more  or  less  advanced  beyond  that  state,  in  which  mankind 
are  but  little  superior  to  the  animals  with  whom  they  contend  for  the  do- 
minion of  the  woods,  and  whose  destruction  they  pursue  as  a  chief  means 
of  subsistence.  Those  who,  either  from  choice  or  ignorance,  neglected 
the  cultivation  of  the  fertile  earth,  were  not  likely  to  have  made  much 
advance  in  architecture,  domestic  or  military. 

In  the  most  early  state  of  society,  a  natural  cave,  or  an  artificial  exca- 
vation, is  a  sufficient  protection  from  the  severity  of  climate,  or  the  pur- 
suit of  enemies.*  In  mild  weather,  and  in  the  security  of  peace,  the 
savage  beings  repose  and  shelter  themselves  like  the  animals  of  the 
forest,  on  the  verdant  bank,  or  beneath  the  umbrage  of  the  leafy  grove. 

When  mankind  begin  to  domesticate  the  wild  herds,  their  condition 
becomes  greatly  meliorated.  In  those  primitive  ages,  the  cattle  and 
their  owners  partake  of  nearly  the  same  accommodation,  but  the  flocks — 
their  only  riches  and  means  of  subsistence — are  guarded  with  the  utmost 
solicitude,  and  in  times  of  danger  are  protected  with  the  most  anxious 
care.  For  this  purpose,  fortifications  or  strongholds  are  constructed, 
sufficiently  large  to  receive  the  whole  tribe,  and  the  cattle,  when  threat- 
ened with  danger. 

The  acquisition  of  the  riches  of  numerous  flocks  leads  to  the  division 
of  land,  and  mduces  the  settlement  of  a  tribe  in  one  place,  which  is,  in 
some  measure,  restrained  from  roaming,  by  the  opposition  of  others,  jeal- 
ous of  encroachment  on  their  territories.  This  early  association  soon 
begins  to  cultivate  a  portion  of  the  ground,  and  hence  arises  a  stronger 
attachment  to  one  position,  and  a  greater  necessity  for  securing  the  addi- 
tional property  that  may  be  acquired,  which  offers  so  strong  a  temptation 
for  the  attacks  of  less  fortunate,  or  more  ferocious  tribes.  Thus,  in  the 
most  early  ages,  arise  those  places  of  strength,  which  are  the  towns  of 
a  rude  people.  Before  the  epoch  of  Christianity,  the  Southern  inhab- 
itants of  Britain  were  in  this  state  of  civilisation,  and,  about  a  century 
afterwards,  the  Northern  clans  were  found  in  nearly  the  same  condition. 

From  the  commentaries  of  Ctesar,  it  has  been  inferred,  that  there 
were  no  towns  in  this  island  when  he  visited  it;  and  from  the  words  of 
Tacitus,  who  says  that  the  Germans  did  not  live  in  cities,  but  settled  just 

*  Some  barrows,  or  cairns,  in  Scotland,  having  been  found  to  contain  skeletons  in  an 
upright  posture,  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  hiding  places  for  individuals. 
31 


242 


FORTIFICATIONS. 


as  a  field  or  a  fountain  might  invite,  it  is  supposed  that  that  people  were 
equally  destitute  of  towns.  The  Celtic  race  were  not,  indeed,  partial 
to  a  residence  within  walls,  but  they  were  sufficiently  careful  to*con- 
struct  many  fortifications  which  received  the  name  of  cities,  and,  from 
their  strength  and  magnitude,  deserved  the  appellation.  Josephus  says, 
there  were  twelve  hundred  cities  in  Gaul;  *  and  Ptolemy  enumerates 
ninety  in  Germany.  The  Semnones  inhabited  one  hundred  towns,  the 
Suessiones  had  twelve,  and  the  Nervii  had  as  many.|  In  Spain,  were 
three  hundred  and  sixty;  J  and  at  the  period  of  the  first  settlement  of  the 
Romans  in  Britain,  its  Celtic  tribes,  in  England  and  Wales,  possessed 
upwards  of  a  hundred. §  Dio  Nicseus,  who  flourished  in  the  beginning 
of  the  third  century,  says,  neither  the  Caledonians  nor  Meats  had  towns, 
or  walled  forts.  They  may  not,  in  his  meaning;  but  Tacitus  informs  us, 
that  beyond  the  Forth  were  "  amplas  civitates."  There  is  every  reason 
to  believe,  that,  even  among  the  rudest  of  the  Caledonians,  there  were 
many  of  those  strengths  which,  in  other  places,  have  been  dignified  by 
the  name  of  cities.  The  Celts,  who  constructed  their  forts  as  places  of 
retreat,  were  not  likely  to  discover  them  to  enemies,  whom  they  always 
endeavored  to  meet  in  the  open  field;  and  it  is  to  this  principle  that  we 
must  ascribe  Caesar's  ignorance  of  those  astonishing  places,  which  were 
undoubtedly  in  existence  previous  to  his  arrival  in  the  island.  "  What 
the  Britons  call  a  town,"  says  this  accomplished  writer,  "  is  a  tract  of 
woody  country,  surrounded  by  a  vallum  and  ditch,  for  the  security  of 
themselves  and  cattle,  against  the  incursions  of  an  enemy;  for,  when 
they  have  inclosed  a  very  large  circuit  with  felled  trees,  they  build  with- 
in it  houses  for  themselves  and  hovels  for  their  cattle."  In  this  descrip- 
tion, he  is  less  satisfactory  than  on  other  occasions;  for  it  gives  no  just 
idea  of  those  places.  Some  were,  no  doubt,  of  a  rude  construction, 
from  having  been  formed  in  haste,  or  for  temporary  occupation ;  in  which 
cases,  the  thick  forests  afforded  a  ready  and  well-adapted  means  of  rais- 
ing a  strong  barrier  of  prostrate  trees  with  an  accompanying  ditch;  but 
the  Celtic  fort  was  a  work  of  regular  and  judicious  design,  and  must 
have  been  executed  with  prodigious  labor. 

The  Nervii  protected  themselves  from  the  attacks  of  the  Roman  cav- 
alry by  a  fence  of  young  trees,  bent,  and  interlaced  with  brambles  and 
thorns.  These  continuing  to  grow,  and  the  breadth  of  the  whole  being 
considerable,  it  was  a  fortification  which  could  not  by  any  means  be  en- 
tered, or  even  looked  into.  II  We  find  Ambiorix,  when  unexpectedly 
attacked,  taking  refuge  in  an  edifice  environed  with  wood,  which,  says 
the  same  intelligent  writer,  was  the  case  with  most  of  the  dwellings  of 
the  Gauls,  who,  in  order  to  avoid  the  heat,  resorted  to  the  neighborhood 
of  woods  and  rivers;  hence  the  Romans  carefully  avoided  the  forests, 
where  they  suffered  so  much  from  ambuscades.^ 


*  By  the  Notitia  Imperii,  there  were  only  115.    Gibbon,  i.  c.  i. 

t  Bello  Gall.  ii.  3.  t  PHny.  §  Whitaker. 

II  Bello  GaU.  ii.  c.  17.  11  Polybius,  iii. 


FORTIFICATIONS. 


24S 


The  Celtic  towns  were  sometimes  placed  on  peninsulas,  or  construct- 
ed in  marshes,  difficult  of  access;  but  the  favorite  positions  were  the 
summits  of  precipitous  elevations,  where  the  natural  strength  was  in- 
creased by  ditches  and  ramparts,  sometimes  of  astonishing  magnitude; 
and,  notwithstanding  Caesar's  sarcastic  remark,  the  British  and  Gallic 
fortresses  resisted  the  continued  assaults  of  the  Roman  troops — the  best 
soldiers  in  the  world;  and,  although  these  places  were  rude  and  incom- 
modious, compared  with  the  elegant  cities  of  Italy  and  Greece,  yet  the 
conquerors  themselves  repeatedly  acknowledged  that  they  were  excellent 
fortifications.  The  Britons,  according  to  Dio,  either  inhabited  the  tops 
of  barren  mountains,  or  resided  in  plains,  rendered  secure  by  surround- 
ing marshes.  These  last  do  not  retain  much  visible  marks  of  ancient 
inhabitation:  *  the  vestigia  of  Celtic  castrametation  are  most  conspicu- 
ous on  the  summits  of  hills,  where  nature  assisted  the  labors  of  the 
architect  and  engineer.  In  the  formation  of  these  intrenchments,  the 
plan  generally  coincided  with  the  figure  of  the  hill,  and  hence  the  form 
was  usually  circular  or  oblong.  Sometimes  there  were  several  ditches, 
or  embankments,  that  increased  in  number  and  strength  where  the  sides 
were  naturally  weakest;  and  the  area  has  frequently  one  or  more  divi- 
sions, which  are  reasonably  presumed  to  have  been  intended  for  the 
separate  reception  of  the  cattle  and  inhabitants.  The  Celtic  towns  were 
not  protected  by  wooden  ramparts  only,  nor  did  they  occupy  a  small  spot 
of  ground.  Alesia  and  Gergovia  are  represented  as  surrounded  with 
walls  of  great  strength,  that  appear  to  have  been  erected  about  mid-hill, 
six  feet  in  height,  and  composed  of  great  stones. "j" 

It  being  in  contemplation  among  the  Gauls  to  burn  Avaricum,  the 
Bituriges  fell  on  their  knees,  praying  that  they  should  not  be  compelled, 
with  their  own  hands,  to  set  fire  to  a  city,  the  most  beautiful  nearly  of  all 
Gaul,  and  equally  an  ornament  and  protection  to  the  State.  They  rep- 
resented that,  from  the  nature  of  the  place,  it  could  be  easily  defended, 
being  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  a  river  and  marsh,  except  where  there 
was  but  one  very  narrow  entrance.  After  much  discussion,  their  petition 
was  granted,  and  proper  persons  were  appointed  to  conduct  the  defence 
of  the  place.  J 

In  Britain,  the  valla  §  are  most  commonly  of  earthwork:  sometimes 
they  are  composed  of  stones,  piled  up  without  mortar;  and  sometimes 
there  is  a  mixture  of  both.  The  renowned  Caractacus,  or  Caradoc,  we 
are  told,  reared  huge  ramparts  of  stone  around  his  camp.  In  Scotland, 
where  this  material  is  plentiful,  the  walls  of  the  ancient  forts  are  most 
commonly  built  of  it.  There  is  sometimes  only  one  entrance;  more  fre- 
quently there  are  two;  and  not  seldom,  several  are  observed;  all  con- 
trived with  much  art,  being  rendered  secure  by  traverses. 

*  Ambresbury  banks,  in  Essex,  are  the  remains  of  a  Lowland  town.    Gough's  Gam- 
den,  ii.  p.  49.  t  Bello  Gall.  vii.  43. 
t  Bello  Gall,  vii.  14.  §  Balla,  Gaelic,  a  wall. 


244 


FORTIFICATIONS. 


The  Herefordshire  Beacon,  situated  on  one  of  the  highest  of  the 
Malvern  hills,  is  a  remarkable  specimen  of  a  British  hill  fort.  A  steep 
and  lofty  vallum  of  earth  and  stones,  with  a  wide  and  deep  ditch  on  the 
outside,  enclose  an  irregular  oblong  space  of  175  feet  by  1 10.  Attached 
to  the  principal  area  are  two  outworks,  lower  down  the  hill,  evidently 
adapted  for  the  reception  of  cattle,  horses,  or  chariots,  and  several  banks 
and  ditches  guard  the  acclivity  of  the  hill.  In  King's  Munimenta  An- 
tiqua,  Stukely's  Itinerarium  Curiosum,  and  Hoare's  Ancient  Wiltshire, 
will  be  found  extended  notices,  with  views  of  various  British  towns  and 
earthworks.  In  Scotland,  the  two  Catherthuns  in  Angus,  Barra  hill, 
Aberdeenshire,  and  many  others,  are  singular  monuments  of  the  skill  of 
the  Caledonians,  in  fortifying  the  summits  of  elevated  hills,  with  formi- 
dable earth-works.  The  magnitude  of  these  valla  excites  astonishment, 
and  we  wonder  by  what  means  they  were  raised.  The  labor  of  forming 
works  so  vast,  in  those  rude  ages,  must  have  been  great,  and  could  only 
be  accomplished  by  the  united  exertions  of  whole  tribes.  A  curious  ac- 
count of  the  operation  is  given  by  Coesar.  The  Nervians  surrounded 
their  camp,  with  a  line  of  which  the  rampart  was  eleven  feet  high,  and 
the  foss  fifteen  feet  deep,  and  having  no  other  implements,  they  cut  the 
turf  with  their  swords,  and  digging  the  earth  with  their  hands,  carried  it 
away  in  their  cloaks.  In  less  than  three  hours,  they  completed  a  circuit 
of  fifteen  miles!  * 

On  a  hill,  in  the  parish  of  Echt,  in  the  county  of  Aberdeen,  is  a  well 
preserved  fastness,  the  walls  of  which  are  formed  of  stone,  without  the 
addition  of  any  cement.  This  fortress  is  called  the  Barmekin,  a  term 
derived  from  the  old  word,  barme,  or  bawn,  a  bank  or  wall,  for  the  purpose 
of  defence,  applied,  in  many  instances,  to  the  outer  ballium  of  a  fortress, 
The  term  is  used  by  Gawin  Douglas,  and  in  1509,  a  charter,  given  to 
John  Grant,  of  Freuchie,  of  the  lands  and  fortalice  of  Urquhart,  enjoins 
him  to  "  big  the  houses  with  Barmekin  walls."  |  It  will  be  seen,  from 
the  engraving,  that  these  remains  consist  of  five  concentric  ramparts 
and  intermediate  ditches,  inclosing  an  area  of  347  feet  diameter,  accord- 
ing to  a  measurement  I  took  some  years  ago.  The  inner  wall  is  the 
most  perfect,  and  is  about  five  feet  high,  and  ten  or  twelve  thick  at  the 
base.  The  others  appear  to  have  been  of  nearly  similar  dimensions,  and 
the  exterior  was  formed  with  large  flat  stones,  pitched  edgewise,  in  man- 
ner of  a  casing,  to  strengthen  and  secure  the  smaller  ones  in  the  body 
of  the  wall.  Large  stones  are  also  observable  on  each  side  the  open- 
ings, by  which  access  was  obtained  to  the  interior,  and  which  are  six 
or  eight  feet  wide.  Extended  lines,  the  remains  of  walls,  run  a  con- 
siderable way  towards  the  north,  accompanied  by  tumuli,  and  the  ves- 
tigia of  stone  circles.    {See  engraving  on  next  page.) 

In  Ireland  similar  remains  are  found.  On  the  top  of  Gauir  Conrigh, 
a  high  mountain  near  Tralee,  is  a  circular  inclosure  of  stones,  piled  on 


*  Bello  Gall.  v.  c.  34. 


t  Harl.  MS.  4134. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  WALLS.  245 

each  other,  some  of  which  measure  ten  cubical  feet,  and  the  hill  being 
very  steep,  it  is  matter  of  wonder  how  they  could  have  been  conveyed 
to  their  elevated  situation. 


In  Gaul,  the  art  of  fortification  was  well  understood.  The  Celtae, 
when  they  contended  for  their  liberties  with  the  Romans,  were  not  al- 
ways actuated  by  that  feeling  which  leads  a  rude  and  gallant  people  to 
despise  artificial  protection,  and  prefer  contention  in  the  open  plain.  In 
Gaul,  were  numerous  towns,  constructed  as  in  Britain,  on  the  summits 
of  the  steepest  and  most  inaccessible  heights,  and  they  were  formed  with 
so  much  care  and  strength,  that  they  seemed  impregnable,  and  cost  the 
Roman  Generals  exceeding  trouble  to  reduce.  A  description  of  the  walls 
is  given  by  Caesar,  who  does  not  hesitate  to  bestow  his  unqualified  praise 
on  their  skilful  erection.  "  The  valla  are  formed,"  says  he,  "  of  long 
beams  driven  into  the  ground,  at  two  feet  distance  from  each  other, 
which  are  bound  together  in  the  inside  with  stout  planks,  and  farther 
strengthened  by  an  earthen  bank.  The  intervals  on  the  outside,  or 
face  of  the  wall,  are  filled  up  with  several  courses  of  large  stones,  well 
cemented  with  mortar,  a  way  of  building  beautiful  and  eflScient,  that 
resisted  both  fire  and  the  battering  ram,  and  could  neither  be  broken 
through  nor  drawn  asunder."* 

In  Celtiberia  were  a  sort  of  walls  reared  by  filling  a  wooden  frame 
Bello  Gall.  vii.  c.  12. 


246 


VITRIFICATIONS. 


with  earth  or  clay.*  When  Caesar  led  his  army  towards  the  Alps,  the 
inhabitants  of  Larignum,  trusting  to  the  natural  strength  of  the  place, 
and  the  efficiency  of  their  fortifications,  refused  to  surrender;  the  empe- 
ror, therefore,  ordered  it  to  be  assaulted,  and,  after  an  obstinate  defence, 
the  city  was  finally  reduced.  That  which  the  inhabitants  chiefly  relied 
on,  when  they  resolved  to  resist  the  Roman  arms,  was  a  tower,  said  to 
have  been  erected  before  the  gate  of  the  castle,  and  constructed  of  al- 
ternate beams,  raised  in  manner  of  a  pyre,  and  carried  so  high  that  it 
commanded  the  whole  place.  From  this  tower  stakes,  stones,  and  other 
missiles,  were  unremittingly  hurled  on  the  besiegers,  who,  on  their  part, 
strenuously  endeavored  to  set  it  on  fire.  This  mode  of  attack  having 
no  effect,  it  was  stormed;  when  they  learned  that  the  fort  was  built  oi 
certain  trees,  very  difficult  to  be  burned,  that  grew  plentifully  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  were  called  larigna,  from  which  the  place  received 
its  name.t 

Those  singular  remains,  known  in  Scotland  by  the  name  of  Duns,  are 
curious  monuments  of  the  skill  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  in  military 
architecture.  I  do  not  here  confine  myself  to  those  round  towers  of 
admirable  structure,  distinguished  by  this  appellation,  which,  although 
undoubtedly  erected  as  places  of  defence,  will  more  appropriately  be 
described  in  the  following  Chapter.  The  vestigia  of  the  aboriginal  for- 
tresses are  called  Raths  by  the  Irish,  and  both  terms  anciently  denoted 
a  precipitous  elevation,  the  natural  site  of  Celtic  strongholds.  In  like 
manner,  the  Latin  arx  signified  both  the  top  of  a  hill  and  a  castle;  and 
ban,  that  denoted  a  wall  for  defence,  is  still  applied  by  the  native  Irish 
to  a  mount. 

The  term  dun,  originally  applied  to  the  site  of  a  fastness  of  whatever 
construction,  was  given  to  those  astonishing  works  peculiar  to  Scotland, 
and  distinguished  by  their  formation  from  all  others. 

The  VITRIFIED  FORTS  havc  excited  a  great  degree  of  curiosity,  and 
must  continue  to  be  objects  of  wonder,  from  their  magnitude  and  singu- 
lar construction.  The  dry  stonewalls  of  the  original  hill  fort  were,  by  a 
process  of  vitrification,  rendered  a  mass  of  impregnable  rock;  but  the 
means  used  to  effect  this  change,  can  only  be  guessed  at.  These  forts 
appear  to  have  been  first  noticed,  in  a  scientific  manner,  by  John  Wil- 
liams, mineral  surveyor,  in  1771,  since  which  time  various  essays  have 
appeared,  in  different  publications,  with  a  view  to  determine  the  manner 
by  which  the  singular  appearance  of  these  remains  was  produced.  The 
walls,  or  masses  of  rampart,  consist  of  stones,  of  various  sizes,  that  have 
been  at  one  time  in  a  state  of  semi-fusion,  and  are  consequently  so  very 
hard,  that  it  is  necessary  to  use  force  to  detach  any  part.  This  mode 
of  building,  which  seems  confined  to  Scotland,  is  so  different  from  all 
others,  that  it  could  not  fail  to  engage  the  attention  of  antiquaries;  and 
the  difficulty  of  accounting  for  the  formation  of  these  walls,  led  many  to 

Pliny,  XXXV.  14.  t  Vitruvius  Archit.  ii.  c.  9. 


VITRIFICATIONS. 


547 


believe  them  produced  by  lightning,  while  some  have  considered  them 
the  craters  of  exhausted  volcanoes;*  and  others  have  concluded  that 
they  were  vitrified  by  accidental  conflagration. "j"  It  seems  agreed  that 
the  people  who  raised  these  works,  were  ignorant  of  the  use  of  lime  or 
other  cement;  and  it  is  not  improbable,  that  accidental  conflagration  may 
have  at  first  given  the  hint  for  so  peculiar  a  mode  of  architecture;  but 
whether  a  process  like  the  burning  of  kelp,  or  the  addition  of  any  par- 
ticular substance  to  the  part  exposed  to  the  heat,  produced  the  fusion  of 
the  mass,  is  not  known.  It  has  been  conjectured,  that  vast  defences  of 
wood  may  have  surrounded  the  ramparts  by  the  casual  burning  of  which 
they  were  vitrified;  but  this  supposition  is  as  objectionable  as  others, 
even  although,  in  some  instances,  the  walls  may  have  been  exposed  to 
the  heat  on  one  side  only.  In  no  buildings  that  have  been  destroyed  by 
fire,  are  eflTects  observable  at  all  similar  to  these  vitrifications. 

A  letter  appeared  in  the  Edinburgh  Magazine,  for  September,  1787, 
written,  as  Pinkerton  tells  us  he  was  informed,  by  the  learned  George 
Dempster,  on  the  authority  of  Gordon's  MS.  History  of  the  Sutherland 
Family,  which  Sir  Robert  Sibbald  seems  to  have  seen, J  and  its  tenden- 
cy is  to  reduce  the  supposed  antiquity  of  these  forts  by  many  ages.  It 
is  there  said  that  Dun  Criech,  in  Sutherland,  was  built  by  one  Paul 
Mac  Tyre,  between  1275  and  1297,  a  hero  whose  history  is  allowed,  even 
by  the  writer,  to  savor  more  of  fable  than  reality,  the  stories  concerning 
him  being  believed  only  "amongst  the  vulgar  people."  He  is  said  to 
have  used  a  "  kynd  of  hard  mortar."  It  would  be  more  satisfactory 
were  it  proved  that  he  had  any  hand  in  its  erection. 

The  Castle  of  Dun'a  deer,  in  the  district  of  Gariach,  Aberdeenshire, 
is  a  curious  vestige  of  vitrification.  Dr.  Anderson,  who  bestowed  con- 
siderable attention  to  the  investigation  of  these  remains,  says  the  mas- 
ses in  this  Dun  are  the  firmest  he  had  ever  met  with.  He  accompanies 
a  long  and  minute  description  with  accurate  plans  and  views, §  adhering 
to  the  belief  that  vitrifications  were  produced  by  artificial  process.  The 
opinion  that  this  ruin,  and  the  more  wonderful  ramparts  on  the  summit 
of  Noth,  several  miles  westward,  are  volcanic  remains,  is  scarcely  en- 
titled to  notice.  The  rock,  on  which  Dun'a  deer  stands,  is  a  sort  of 
slate  which,  I  believe,  is  never  found  in  decayed  craters.  The  ruins 
cover  the  summit  of  a  beautiful  green  hill,  and  formerly  consisted  of  a 
double  court  of  building,  inclosed  by  a  massy  rampart  and  two  wide 
trenches,  strengthened  with  additional  works  where  naturally  weakest. 
These  latter  parts  are  now  very  imperceptible;  but  forty-two  feet  of  the 
western  wall,  in  the  interior  building,  is  about  thirty  feet  high,  and  ten 
or  twelve  thick.    So  complete  a  fragment  induces  Dr.  Anderson  to  think 

*  Phil.  Trans.  1777,  Part  ii.  No.  20.  Robert  Riddel,  Esq.  F.  S.  A.  Archseo.  x.  100. 
Hon.  Daines  Barrington.    Ibid.  vi.  101. 

t  Chalmers  in  "  Caledonia."    Titler  in  Phil.  Trans.  Edin. 
t  Vera  Scot.  Descript.  MS.  in  LibT  Advoc.  Edin. 
§  ArchsBO.  and  The  Bee,  Vols.  ix.  and  x. 


243 


VITRIFICATIONS. 


that  tlie  upper  part  was  built  on  the  site  of  a  more  ancient  structure;  yet, 
from  personal  observation,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  all  the  walls  are 
of  equal  antiquity.  A  heat,  sufficient  to  vitrify  the  base  of  the  walls, 
might  not  affect  the  upper  part  in  a  similar  way;  but  if  it  was  a  later 
erection,  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  appearance;  for  the  building  is 
square,  a  form,  I  believe,  unknown  in  any  other  vitrification;  in  some 
parts,  also,  we  perceive  ashler  work,  and  portions  of  other  good  mason- 
ry. If  this  building  was  submitted  to  the  above  process,  it  is,  perhaps, 
one  of  the  latest  instances:  Dun 'a  deer  was  a  royal  residence,  and  it  is 
a  historic  fact,  that  Gregory  the  Great  died  here  in  892. 

The  following  extracts  from  Dr.  Anderson's  communication  to  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries,  in  1777,  respecting  these  most  remarkable  of 
all  Scotish  Antiquities,  will  be  found  interesting;  but  his  curious  theory 
is  not  quite  satisfactory. 

The  first  fortification  of  this  kind,  which  he  examined,  is  situated  on 
the  top  of  a  steep  hill,  called  Knockferrel,  two  miles  west  of  Dingwall, 
in  Ross-shire;  and,  as  he  observes,  an  idea  of  others  may  be  formed  from 
a  description  of  this  one:  it  is,  in  most  respects,  applicable  to  that  of 
Noth.  The  fort  is  placed  on  the  ridge  of  an  oblong  shaped  hill,  very 
steep  on  three  sides,  the  walls  being  raised  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice 
all  round,  except  the  end  where  you  can  enter  the  area;  the  inclosed 
space  of  nearly  an  acre  being  almost  level.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that, 
in  all  these  forts,  the  places  where  it  is  possible  to  approach  the  walls, 
are  strengthened  by  additional  lines  of  rampart,  and  here  both  ends  had 
been  so  guarded.  "Those  at  the  entry,"  says  the  doctor,  "had  ex- 
tended, as  I  guessed,  about  one  hundred  yards,  and  seem  to  have  con- 
sisted of  cross  walls,  one  behind  another,  eight  or  ten  in  number;  the 
ruins  of  which  are  still  plainly  perceptible.  Through  each  of  these 
walls  there  must  have  been  a  gate,  so  that  the  besiegers  would  have 
been  under  the  necessity  of  forcing  each  of  these  gates  successively 
before  they  could  carry  the  fort:  on  the  opposite  end  of  the  hill,  as  the 
ground  is  considerably  steeper,  the  outworks  seem  not  to  have  extended 
above  twenty  yards.  Not  far  from  the  further  end  was  a  well  now  filled 
up.  The  wall,  all  round  from  the  inside,  appears  to  be  only  a  mound 
of  rubbish,  consisting  of  loose  stones; —  the  vitrified  wall  is  only  to  be 
seen  on  the  outside.  It  appears,  at  first  sight,  surprising,  that  a  rude 
people  should  have  been  capable  of  discovering  a  cement  of  such  a  sin- 
gular kind  as  this  is;  but  it  is  no  difficult  matter,  for  one  who  isaccjuaint- 
ed  with  the  nature  of  the  country  where  these  structures  abound,  to 
give  a  very  probable  account  of  the  manner  in  v»'hich  this  art  has  been 
originally  discovered,  and  of  the  causes  that  have  occasioned  the  know- 
ledge of  it  to  be  lost.  Through  all  the  Northern  parts  of  Scotland,  a 
particular  kind  of  earthy  iron  ore,  of  a  very  vitrescible  nature,  much 
abounds.  This  ore  might  have  been  accidentally  mixed  with  some  stones 
at  a  place  where  a  great  fire  was  kindled,  and,  being  fused  by  the  heat. 


FORTRESSES. 


249 


would  cement  the  stones  into  one  solid  mass,  and  give  the  first  hint  of 
the  uses  to  which  it  might  be  applied. — The  wall  of  Knockferrel  all  round 
is  covered  on  the  outside  with  a  crust  of  about  two  feet  in  thickness,  con- 
sisting of  stones  immersed  among  vitrified  matter:  some  of  the  stones  be- 
ing half  fused  themselves — all  of  them  having  evidently  suffered  a  con- 
siderable heat.  The  crust  is  of  an  equal  thickness  of  about  two  feet, 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  so  as  to  lie  upon,  and  be  supported  by,  a 
backing  of  loose  stones,  forming,  in  section,  an  acute  angle.  Within 
the  crust  of  vitrified  matter,  is  another  stratum,  of  some  thickness,  paral- 
lel to  the  former,  which  consists  of  loose  stones,  which  have  been  scorch- 
ed by  the  fire,  but  discover  no  marks  of  fusion."  The  doctor  believes, 
that  the  wall  being  raised,  and  the  interstices  filled  full  of  the  vitrescible 
ore,  "  nothing  more  was  necessary  to  give  it  the  entire  finishing,  but  to 
kindle  a  fire  all  round  it  sufficiently  intense  to  melt  the  ore,  and  thus  to 
cement  the  whole  into  one  coherent  mass,  as  far  as  the  influence  of  the 
heat  extended." 

By  whatever  process  the  walls  were  thus  strengthened,  all  these 
works  are,  in  every  respect,  except  the  vitrification,  similar  to  other  hill 
forts  ;  both  are  situated  on  eminences,  both  have  the  usual  appendages 
of  wells,  circles,  tumuli,  roads,  &c.,  and  both  have  ramparts  formed  of 
stone,  without  cement. 

In  the  elaborate  work  of  Mr.  King,  various  castles  in  England,  of  un- 
known antiquity,  are  asserted  to  be  the  work  of  ages  long  anterior  to  the 
Saxon  invasion.  This  writer  indulges  his  favorite  hypothesis  in  assign- 
ing several  of  these  structures  "  to  Phoenician  settlers,  or  some  other 
foreigners  from  the  east,"  but  he  allows  that  the  Britons  may  have  also 
erected  them.  The  instances  which  he  adduces  are  unlike  all  castellations 
of  the  Romans,  or  any  other  known  invaders  of  this  island ;  and  we  may 
safely  believe  that  they  were  constructed  by  the  Celtic  inhabitants  while 
they  retained  their  independence.  These  buildings  are  generally  situ- 
ated in  secluded  parts  of  the  country,  on  elevations  difficult  of  access, 
and  it  may  be  consequently  presumed,  that  they  would  long  escape  the 
destructive  assaults  of  the  sordid  spoliator.  To  demolish  bulwarks  so 
solid  and  massy,  would  have  been  a  work  of  labor  equal  to  that  of  their 
erection.  In  assigning  any  building  to  the  early  Britons,  it  must  in- 
deed be  observed  that  no  positive  demonstration  of  the  fact  can  be  giv- 
en, nor  any  certain  date  ascribed  to  a  ruin,  yet  the  peculiar  style  of 
these  castellations,  different  from  all  the  varieties  adopted  in  known  pe- 
riods, gives  them  a  reasonable  claim  to  high  antiquity. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  the  military  erections  of  the  Southern 
Celts,  it  may  be  desirable  to  describe  some  of  those  castellated  remains 
that  are  supposed  to  be  of  British  origin,  but  are  of  unknown  date. 
Of  these,  Launceston  castle,  in  Cornwall,  described  in  the  Beauties  for 
that  county,  is  a  curious  example.  On  the  top  of  a  conical  hill  of  great 
height,  is  a  round  keep  or  tower,  the  walls  of  which  are  ten  feet  in  thick- 

32 


250 


METHODS  OF  DEFENCE. 


ness,  while  the  clear  area  does  not  exceed  eighteen  feet  and  a  half  in 
diameter.  This  tower  is  surrounded  by  three  concentric  walls  of  stone, 
a  fourth  having  been  carried  round  the  base  of  the  rock  on  which  the 
castle  is  placed.  The  erection  of  this  edifice  must  have  been  attended 
with  much  laborious  exertion. 

Castell  Corndochon,  situated  on  the  summit  of  a  high  rock,  near 
Snowdon,  and  some  remains  at  Caerleon,  in  Wales,  are  attributed  by 
Mr.  King  to  British  attempts,  in  imitation  of  Roman  architecture;  and 
Carn-bre  in  Cornwall,  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  by  the  natives 
before  the  conquerors  had  finally  evacuated  the  island.  Brynllys  castle, 
in  the  county  of  Brecknock,  being  situated  in  a  district  which  does  not 
afford  a  rocky  elevation  like  that  on  which  Launceston  is  planted,  is 
built  of  peculiar  strength,  its  base  assuming  the  appearance  of  an  artifi- 
cial mount  of  stone.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  in  most  of  the  ancient 
castellated  buildings  throughout  England  and  Wales,  innovations  have 
been  made  by  successive  occupiers,  which  the  architectural  critic  can 
easily  distinguish  from  the  original  work.  A  perusal  of  the  "  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Beauties  of  England  and  Wales,"  or  the  study  of  Mr.  Brit- 
ton's  works  on  English  architecture,  will  enable  any  one  to  discriminate 
the  styles  that  prevailed  in  different  ages. 

The  vast  intrenchments  which  the  Celts  threw  up,  and  the  massy  walls 
which  they  reared  in  places  the  most  difficult  of  access,  which  still  re- 
main the  wonderful  monuments  of  their  skill  and  labor,  attest  the  care 
which  they  bestowed  on  the  construction  of  strongholds,  capable  of  re- 
sisting the  assaults  of  an  enemy.  These  people  had,  mdeed,  an  aver- 
sion to  a  residence  in  towns,  yet  were  they  not  inattentive  to  their  utili- 
ty, and  sometimes,  by  necessity,  they  were  compelled  to  retire  to  them, 
where  they  defended  themselves  by  various  means,  with  desperate  reso- 
lution, raising  walls,  towers,  galleries,  and  other  works,  which  struck 
their  enemies  with  admiration.  When  besieged  in  the  city  of  Avaricum, 
or  Bourges,  where  the  Romans  assaulted  them  with  incredible  bravery, 
they  behaved  with  a  resolution  and  activity  that  long  baffled  the  attempts 
of  their  enemies.  With  long  ropes  they  turned  aside  the  hooks  of  the 
besiegers,  and  when  they  caught  them,  they  drew  them  into  the  town  by 
means  of  engines.  They  also  endeavored  to  undermine  the  mount 
which  was  raised  against  the  walls,  and  by  various  contrivances  and  in- 
cessant exertions,  rendered  the  efl"orts  of  the  Romans  ineffectual.  They 
raised  towers  on  all  parts  of  their  ramparts,  and  covered  them  very 
carefully  with  raw  hides,  to  prevent  their  combustion;  and,  continuing 
their  sallies,  day  and  night,  they  either  set  fire  to  the  mount,  or  fell  on 
the  workmen  and  put  them  to  flight.  As  the  Roman  towers  increased 
in  height,  so  they  diligently  raised  those  on  the  walls  —  continually  add- 
ing one  story  after  another,  to  prevent  being  overtopped.  They  also 
counterworked  the  mines;  sometimes  filling  them  up  with  large  stones, 
sometimes  pouring  scalding  pitch  on  the  miners,  or  attacking  them  with 


DISLIKE  TO  TOWNS. 


251 


long  stakes  burned  and  sharpened  at  the  ends.*  Cocsar  observes,  that, 
from  working  in  their  mines,  they  were  very  dexterous  in  sapping  and 
overthrowing  the  mounts  and  towers  which  were  raised  against  them. 
With  that  ingenuity  and  aptitude  to  learn,  by  which  they  were  charac- 
terized, they  soon  imitated  the  Romans,  and  began  to  understand 
this  part  of  miUtary  tactics.  In  the  time  of  Vitellius,  says  Tacitus,  the 
Germans  used  the  battering  ram,  an  expedient  altogether  new  to  them, 
but  a  people  who  could  fortify  their  towns  with  such  admirable  art,  were 
not  likely  to  be  altogether  deficient  in  the  practice  of  assaulting  them. 
The  Celtae  and  Belgge,  we  learn  from  CiEsar,  used  the  same  methods  in 
attacking  a  town;  they  surrounded  the  walls,  and  never  ceased  throwing 
stones  by  means  of  their  numerous  slingers,  until  ^hey  had  swept  the  be- 
sieged off  the  walls;  when,  casting  themselves  into  a  testudo,  they  ap- 
proached the  gate.  The  Caledonians  had  long  hooks  wherewith  they 
dragged  the  unhappy  soldiers  from  the  wall  of  Severus.  When  the 
Gauls,  under  Ambiorix,  attacked  Cicero's  camp,  they  threw  hot  clay 
bullets  and  heated  darts  among  the  Romans. 

Notwithstanding  the  remains  of  so  many  intrenchments,  constructed 
with  amazing  strength,  and  dispersed  all  over  the  island,  it  is  certain 
that  the  Celtae  placed  more  dependence  on  their  personal  valor  than 
the  strength  of  ramparts.  Towns  were  objects  of  aversion  with  these 
oeople,  as  places  of  permanent  residence;  but  the  safety  of  their  wives 
and  their  children,  and  the  security  of  their  flocks,  required  fortifica 
tions.  In  these  retreats,  the  warriors  must  have  spent  the  time,  which 
was  not  occupied  in  war,  or  hunting,  along  with  their  families,  and  de- 
posited the  property  which  they  possessed;  but  society  was  too  barba- 
rous for  a  settled  life,  and  when  their  territories  were  invaded,  the  war- 
riors marched  out  with  alacrity  to  repel  the  aggression.  It  was  an 
unfortunate  circumstance,  if  surprised  in  their  retreats;  and,  to  prevent 
this,  they  used  every  precaution.  "They  avoided  the  towns  as  dens 
and  places  beset  with  nets  and  toils, |  conceiving,  that,  to  trust  for  safety 
m  the  defence  of  fortifications,  was  inimical  to  personal  valor,  and  in- 
jurious to  warlike  renown.  When  the  Tencteri  sent  ambassadors  to  the 
people  of  Cologne,  exhorting  them  to  resume  their  ancient  manners, 
from  which  the  Romans  had  induced  them  to  depart,  "  Demolish  the  walls 
of  your  city,  these  ramparts  of  your  servitude,"  say  they;  "for  even 
beasts,  that  are  naturally  wild  and  savage,  if  confined,  are  brought  to  for- 
get their  boldness  and  vigor. "J  In  a  general  council  of  Gauls,  it  was 
determined  to  destroy  their  towns,  and  in  one  day  more  than  twenty  of 
those  in  the  state  of  the  Bituriges  were  burned. §  The  use  of  machines, 
without  which  places  of  strength  cannot  be  attacked,  or  well  defended, 
increases  in  proportion  to  the  declension  of  personal  valor,  of  which  the 
Romans  furnish  a  striking  example.    The  Celts  despised  these  means 


^  Bello  Gall.  ii. 
X  Tac.  Annals,  iv. 


t  Amm.  Mar,  xvi.  1. 
§  Bello  Gall.  vii.  14. 


DUNS,  OR  SIGNAL  TOWERS. 


of  conquest,  although  they  had  sufficient  ingenuity  to  construct  them. 
The  Muc  of  the  Gael  was  like  the  Pluteus;  it  was  moved  on  three 
wheels,  and  was  covered  with  twigs,  hair  cloth,  and  raw  hides. 

As  the  Celts,  however,  disliked  standing  a  siege,  so  they  had  no  great 
inclination,  and  seldom  much  success,  in  attacking  a  city.  On  one  occa- 
sion, they  closely  invested  Agrippina,  in  which  the  Emperor  Julian  lay, 
with  only  a  few  troops;  but  this  part  of  the  science  of  war  required  more 
time  than  their  impatience  would  allow,  and,  after  thirty  days,  they  retir- 
ed, "  muttering  quietly  among  themselves  the  regret,  that  vainly  and 
foolishly  they  had  ever  thought  of  besieging  the  city."*  The  army  of 
the  heroic  Bonduica  studiously  avoided  attacking  the  Roman  forts. 

The  Duns  in  Scotland  were  generally  constructed  within  sight  of  each 
other,  that  an  intimation  of  danger  might  be  speedily  conveyed  through- 
out the  country.  The  signal  was  fire,  which  was  also  kindled  on  cairns, 
or  heaps  of  stones  raised  on  eminences  for  that  purpose.  According  to 
Irish  chronicles,  certain  persons  were  appointed  to  attend  to  these  fires, 
that  were  also  lighted  for  the  guidance  of  mariners.  Martin  speaks  of 
numerous  cairns  in  the  Isles,  on  which  the  "  warning  flame'*  was  raised 
by  burning  heath,  a  sentinel  being  stationed  at  each,  to  give  notice  of 
invasion  or  other  danger;  and  the  steward  of  the  Isles  made  frequent 
rounds  to  inspect  these  stations.  If  he  found  any  of  the  watchmen 
asleep,  he  stripped  them  of  their  clothes;  but  their  personal  punishment 
was  the  prerogative  of  the  chief 

In  the  Duns,  a  sentinel,  called  Gockman,  was  placed,  says  Dr.  Mac- 
pherson,  who  called  out  at  intervals  to  show  his  vigilance;  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  Celtic  practice,  he  was  obliged  to  deliver  all  his  information 
in  rhymes;  a  large  horn,  full  of  spirits,  stood  by  his  side,  probably  for 
the  inspiration  of  his  muse.  Martin  describes  Mac  Niel's  castle,  in  the 
isle  of  Kismul,  near  Barra,  on  the  top  of  which  one  of  these  watchmen 
was  stationed  night  and  day.  There  was,  besides,  a  constable  who  ex- 
ecuted his  trust  so  faithfully,  that  Martin  could  not,  by  any  entreaty, 
gain  access  to  the  building.  These  men  had  their  perquisites  very 
punctually  paid  at  two  terms,  and  it  is  not  above  a  century  since  the  cus- 
tom was  disused. 

Thus  much  it  has  been  thought  proper  to  say  in  this  place  of  the  Cel- 
tic methods  of  constructing  their  strongholds.  The  arts  of  castrameta- 
tion  and  architecture  are  so  closely  allied  in  that  state  of  society  in  which 
the  Celts  so  long  remained,  that  it  was  impossible  entirely  to  disjoin  them 
in  the  foregoing  notices.  With  a  rude,  martial,  and  unsettled  people, 
architecture  can  make  but  slow  advances,  and  its  origin  is  the  effort  of 
untutored  man,  to  defend  himself  from  the  rage  of  his  enemies.  The 
Celts  fortified  the  summits  of  precipitous  elevations  by  earth  works,  by 
rude  stone  walls  and  wooden  ramparts,  before  they  were  able  to  raise 


*  Amm.  Mar.  xvi. 


FORTIFICATIONS. 


253 


the  skilfully-constructed  walls  which  surrounded  the  towns  of  Gaul  and 
Britain.  The  Gael  piled  up  a  bulwark  of  rough  stones,  before  they 
could  form  the  vitrifications  and  circular  duns  which  so  powerfully  excite 
our  admiration,  and  they  exerted  their  architectural  skill  as  military  en- 
gineers, and  for  the  general  welfare  before  it  was  employed  for  domes- 
tic purposes  or  personal  comfort. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


OF  THE  ARCHITECTURE  OF  THE  CELTS. 

In  the  art  of  castrametation,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  early  Celts 
were  by  no  means  deficient.  The  state  of  society  gave  but  little  en- 
couragement to  the  study  of  domestic  architecture  among  these  nations, 
and  the  simplicity  of  their  lives  did  not  require  the  conveniences  afford- 
ed by  this  useful  and  ornamental  science. 

The  little  huts  of  the  Gauls  and  the  Britons  were  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  the  people,  but  they  were  of  too  slight  a  construction  to  leave  any  very 
perceptible  remains.  The  occupations  of  the  pastoral  life  did  not  require 
the  erection  of  permanent  habitations:  in  perambulating  a  country,  it  is 
useless  to  bestow  much  labor  on  a  building  that  must  be  soon  abandon- 
ed. The  freedom  of  a  strolling  life  is  congenial  to  untutored  man.  The 
Fenns,  Tacitus  says,  sheltered  themselves  with  the  branches  of  trees, 
preferring  this  rude  and  cheerless  state  of  existence  to  the  painful  occu- 
pations of  agriculture,  of  constructing  houses,  and  the  continual  trouble 
of  defending  their  property. 

Ctesar  describes  Britain  as  abounding  in  houses.  Dio  says  the  Cale- 
donians lived  in  tents,  meaning  the  simple  booth  of  wattles,  thatched 
with  rushes,  of  which  Strabo  gives  a  particular  description.  The  houses 
of  the  Britons,  says  he,  are  of  a  round  form,  constructed  of  poles  and 
wattled  work,  with  very  high  pointed  roofs,  the  beams  uniting  at  top. 
Diodorus  says,  for  the  most  part  they  were  covered  with  reeds  or  straw, 


SCOTISH  ARCHITECTURE. 


255 


materials  of  which  the  Carthaginians  formed  their  tents.*  We  find  that 
the  houses  of  the  Gauls  and  Britons  were  composed  of  wood,  and  the 
use  of  tiles  and  mortar  being  unknown,  they  were  plastered  with  clay, 
or  a  sort  of  red  earth,  which  was  latterly  procured  in  England.  Vitru- 
vius  says,  that  in  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Lusitania,  the  houses  were  made  of 
oak,  shingles,  and  straw. f  Certain  reeds  were  used  in  Gaul  as  a  cover- 
ing for  the  houses;  and,  if  well  put  on,  Pliny  says  this  sort  of  roof 
would  last  for  ages,  and  it  had  this  valuable  property  besides,  according 
to  Aristotle,  that  it  was  not  easily  consumed  by  fire.  A  sort  of  stone 
was  also  applied  to  this  purpose,  and  is  at  this  day  used  under  the  name 
of  Knappstein,  or  pierre  de  liais,  on  the  continent.  It  is  of  a  white 
color,  and  is  cut  as  easily  as  timber;  and  being  sometimes  very  gaudy, 
the  houses  were  called  Pavonacea,  from  a  supposed  resemblance  to  pea- 
cocks' feathers.  J 

Wood  is  a  material  so  convenient  for  architectural  purposes,  that  it 
has  been  much  employed  even  where  necessity  did  not  compel  its  adop- 
tion. Throughout  Britain  and  Ireland  many  considerable  edifices  have 
been  reared  of  timber  in  periods  comparatively  recent.  In  the  ninth 
century,  the  houses  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  were  usually  of  wattle 
work,  and  the  residences  of  the  chiefs  were  frequently  built  in  the  same 
manner.  We  find  one  Gillescop  in  1228  burning  many  wooden  castles 
in  Moray.  Strong  bulwarks  w^ere  often  constructed  of  apparently  slight 
materials.  Gir.  Cambrensis  relates,  that  in  the  reign  of  Hen  I.,  Ar- 
nulph  de  Montgomery  founded  a  castle  at  Pembroke,  the  rampart  of 
which  was  formed  of  osiers  and  turf  The  chief  residence  of  the  kings 
of  Wales  was  called  the  White  Palace,  from  its  appearance,  having 
been  built  of  wands  with  the  bark  peeled  ofl^  A  sort  of  wattle  work,  or 
combination  of  twigs  or  prepared  wood  and  earth  or  clay,  was  a  common 
mode  of  building  among  the  Gael,  both  of  Albin  and  Erin,  and  was 
known  as  "  the  Scotish  fashion."  Of  this  manner  of  building  was  that 
church  erected  in  652  by  Finan,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  composed  wholly 
of  sawn  oak,  covered  with  reeds.  § 

The  Scots  were,  indeed,  the  first  native  architects  who  invented  the 
method  of  squaring  timber,  and  applying  it  to  large  and  public  edifices.  || 
In  this  way  the  first  church  at  lona  was  built,  as  well  as  numerous  others, 
descriptions  of  which  do  not  exist.  In  1172,  when  St.  Bernard  describes 
a  stone  church  in  Ireland  as  a  novelty,  Henry  II.  was  entertained  at 
Dublin  in  a  long  wattle  house,  built,  we  are  told,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
country.  William  of  Malmesbury  speaks  of  a  church  in  his  time  formed 
of  rods  or  wicker,  and  a  MS.  in  the  British  Museum  says  that  the  reli- 
gious edifices  were  all  at  first  formed  "  ex  virgatis  torquatis." 

Sir  James  Hall,  in  his  learned  and  ingenious  work  on  the  origin  of 
gothic  architecture,  which  he  believes  is  derived  from  the  osier  edifices, 
has  shown  the  progress  of  this  beautiful  style,  and  collected  many  curi- 

*  Lib.  XX.  3.  t  Lib.  ii.  1.  t  Hist.  Nat.  Tome  xii.  p.  66,  4to.  edit.  1782. 

§  Bade,  Eccles.  Hist.  iii.  c.  25.  ||  Pownall  in  Archaeologia,  ix.  iii. 


256  ETYMOLOGIES. 

OUS  facts,  illustrative  of  the  primitive  mafi^r  of  building,  described  by 
Bade  as  "  in  more  Scotorum,"  of  which  a  curious  specimen  exists  at  this 
day  in  the  church  of  Grenestede,  in  the  county  of  Essex.  One  thousand 
oaks  from  the  mountains  formed  the  hall  of  Crothar,  an  Irish  chief,  but 
none  of  the  houses  of  Fingal  were  of  wood,  it  is  said,  except  Tifiormal, 
the  great  hall,  where  the  bards  met  annually  to  repeat  their  compositions. 
By  some  accident  it  was  burnt;  and  an  ancient  poet  has  left  a  curious 
catalogue  of  its  furniture.* 

The  Gael  have  not  relinquished  the  ancient  mode  of  constructing 
houses.  In  many  parts  it  is  still  common,  but  it  is  not  so  generally  pre- 
valent as  formerly.  Spelman,  who  lived  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  says,  wicker  houses  were  the  common  habitations  of  the  Irish. 
The  Rapparee,  in  the  time  of  King  William  III.,  lived  in  a  hut,  formed 
by  means  of  a  few  branches  of  trees,  one  end  being  stuck  in  the  ground, 
and  the  other  resting  on  a  mud  wall  or  bank.  The  common  people  had 
also  cabins,  formed  entirely  of  wattle  work,  with  a  coating  of  clay;  and 
these  rude  hovels,  which  Sir  W.  Petty  says  could  be  built  in  three  days, 
were  held  of  the  superior  from  May  to  May.  In  Jurah  and  other  islands 
of  the  Hebudae,  the  cottages  are  still  chiefly  constructed  of  these  fragile 
materials,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  main  land  of  Scotland  the  same 
manner  is  followed.  It  is  found  comfortable  for  dwelling  houses,  and  is 
extremely  well  adapted  for  barns,  and  other  edifices  attached  to  farms. 

The  humble  dwelling  of  the  ancient  tribes  was  called  in  the  British 
tongue,  bod,  or  bwth,  which  signifies  a  cottage  or  dwelling.  In  Gaelic, 
bothan  is  a  cottage,  and  is  particularly  applied  to  the  slight  buildings 
raised  for  summer  residence  in  the  hills.  These  different  Celtic  words 
show  the  origin  of  the  English  booth,  and  were  applied  to  the  simple 
dwelling  which  also  received  the  names  of  tent  and  hut.  The  transla- 
tors of  Ossian  render  this  word  by  diflferent  terms:  "The  hunter  shall 
hear  from  his  booth,"  "  No  hut  receives  me  from  the  rain,"  &c. 

If  the  residence  of  the  Briton  was  on  a  plain,  it  was  called  Lann,  from 
Lagen  or  Logan,  an  inclosed  plain  or  lying  place.  If  on  an  eminence,  it 
was  termed  Dun,  the  origin  of  the  Latin  dunum,  which  terminates  the 
names  of  so  many  Celtic  towns.  Durum  indicated  the  position  to  be  on 
the  banks  of  a  stream.  Magus  is  apparently  from  magh,  a  plain,  and 
Bona  may  be  from  boun,  round. 

Aiteach,  a  habitation,  is  derived  from  the  Gaelic  ait,  a  place,  whence 
the  Greek  and  the  Latin  aedes.    Peillichd  in  Gaelic,  and  peillic 

in  Cornish,  signify  a  hut  made  of  earth  and  branches  of  trees,  "f"  This 
term  comes  from  feile  or  peile,  a  skin  or  covering,  which  is  the  origin  of 
the  English  fell,  felt,  and  many  others.  The  Latin  domus  seems  derived 
from  domh,  a  dwelling. 

It  has  been  before  observed  that  the  roving  life  of  the  Celts  did  not 
require  the  erection  of  permanent  habitations.  The  hill  forts  were 
known  places  of  retreat  in  time  of  danger:  on  other  occasions,  the  tribes 

*  Mac  Pherson,  note  on  Ossian.  t  Armstrong  and  Pryce. 


PICTISH  HOUSES. 


267 


formed*  their  rude  tents  more  for  the  purpose  of  temporary  shelter  than 
as  fixed  places  of  residence. 

This  was  indeed  in  the  most  early  ages,  but  long  after  they  began  to 
relish  the  sweets  of  a  more  civilized  life,  their  dwellings  remained  rude 
and  unimposing.  The  residences  of  the  aboriginal  British  chiefs  are  de- 
scribed by  Whitaker  as  formed  of  wood,  the  dwelling  house  and  attend- 
ant offices  forming  a  quadrangular  court;  he,  however,  notices  the  ruins 
of  some  stone  buildings  discovered  at  Manchester  and  Aldborough,  of  a 
square  form,  the  walls  being  two  yards  broad  and  one  deep,  composed 
of  three  layers  of  common  paving  stone,  on  which  were  laid  a  tier  of 
larger  blocks,  all  cemented  with  clay. 

The  square  form  of  these  ruins  certainly  bears  little  indication  of  a 
British  origin.  The  Celts  adhered  to  the  circular  plan,  at  least  while 
independent:  on  the  subjugation  of  the  Southern  tribes  they  were  induc- 
ed to  abandon  their  native  manners,  and  imitate  those  of  their  conquer- 
ors, and  their  houses,  we  know  from  Tacitus,  were  then  built  after  the 
models  of  the  Romans. 

Stone  work  is,  however,  no  proof  that  ruins  are  not  British.  We  are 
informed  by  the  Welsh  antiquaries  that  Morddal  Gwr  Gweilgi,  mason  to 
Ceraint  ap  Greidiawl,  first  taught  the  Britons  to  work  in  stone  and  mor- 
tar; *  but  the  chronicles  of  that  nation  stretch  too  far  into  the  regions 
of  fable  to  receive  unhesitating  credence  to  all  their  relations.  It  would 
appear  from  Henry  of  Huntingdon,  t  that  stone  buildings  were  not  very 
common  in  the  Principality  before  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First,  but  the 
natives  were  certainly  able  to  construct  such  edifices. 

In  all  parts  of  the  island  where  stone  was  abundant,  it  may  be  safely 
presumed  that  the  substructure  of  the  primitive  hut  was  composed  of  it. 
Small  circular  vestigia  are  to  be  seen  on  the  muirs  in  most  parts  of  Scot- 
land that  are  certainly  the  remains  of  the  Celtic  booths.  They  are 
sometimes  in  considerable  numbers,  and  often  appear  within  the  area  of 
fortifications.  J  A  remarkable  instance  occurs  in  Cornwall,  and  is  no- 
ticed in  the  "  Beauties"  for  that  county.  The  diameter  of  the  ancient 
houses  of  the  Caledonians  is  usually  about  nine  yards,  but  some  are  con- 
siderably larger,  and  the  door  was  invariably  made  to  face  the  rising  sun. 
In  Glen  Urquhart,  near  Lochness,  these  foundations  are  numerous,  and 
one  is  observable  called  the  Castle,  which  is  much  larger  than  any  of 
the  others.  There  is  also  one  which  has  a  double  concentric  wall,  evi- 
dently intended  to  form  separate  apartments.  Many  similar  remains  are 
also  to  be  seen  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  George,  or  Ardnasceur. 

The  current  tradition  is,  that  these  are  the  remains  of  the  houses  of 
the  Picts.  In  Gaelic,  they  are  denominated  Larach  tai  §  Draonich,  the 
foundations  of  the  houses  of  a  Draoneach,  which  has  led  to  the  belief  that 
they  were  the  dwellings  of  Druids.    This  arises  from  the  similarity  of  the 

*  Roberts'  Early  Hist,  of  the  Cumri.  t  Book  iv.  126. 

t  These  places  were  called  Longphorts,  or  camps,  by  the  Irish,  firom  long,  a  field  tent. 
§  Oxtaod,  \.  e.  tai  f  hod,  rubbish  of  a  house, 

33 


258 


PICTISH  HOUSES. 


term  to  that  of  Druinich,  which  signifies  a  Druid,  but  it  is  obvious  that 
that  order  was  not  so  numerous  as  to  require  so  many  houses.  Some 
circular  remains  in  the  Isle  of  Sky  and  elsewhere,  so  small  as  only  to  be 
sufficient  for  the  residence  of  a  single  individual,  may  have  indeed  been 
the  houses  of  Druids,*  and  in  Tai  nan  Druinish  retain  their  proper 
name,  but  the  true  signification  of  Draoneach  is  a  cultivator  of  the  soil, 
a  term  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  Eastern  parts  of  Scotland,  where 
agriculture  was  first  practised,  received  from  their  neighbors  in  the  High- 
lands, who  continued  a  pastoral  people. 

Whether  Draonaich  be  the  origin  of  Cruithnaich,  the  name  which  the 
Irish  gave  to  the  Picts,  it  is  certain  that  the  latter  people  were  distin- 
guished from  their  brethren  of  the  hills  whom  they  termed  the  Scuit  or 
Scaoit,  from  moving  about  with  their  flocks;  and  it  is  no  less  true  that 
cultivators  of  the  s^il  are  to  this  day  called  Draonaich  by  the  Gael.  It 
is  a  proof  that  the  inhabitants  of  these  houses  employed  themselves  in 
cultivating  the  earth,  and  consequently  erected  edifices  calculated  for 
some  duration,  that  in  scarcely  any  instance  are  they  unaccompanied  by 
evident  marks  of  surrounding  cultivation. 

Another  curious  group  of  these  unobtrusive  ruins  is  found  in  the  pa- 
rish of  Dalmaek,  Aberdeenshire,  and  points  out,  as  there  appears  every 
reason  to  believe,  the  site  of  Devana,  the  capital  of  the  Taixali.  A 
notice  of  this  remarkable  place  was  communicated  to  the  Society  of 
Scots  Antiquaries,  by  the  late  Professor  Stuart,  of  Marishall  college, 
who  describes  the  remains  as  amounting  to  some  hundred  individual 
circles,  two  or  three  feet  high,  and  from  twelve  to  twenty  or  thirty  feet 
in  diameter,  scattered  over  a  space  of  more  than  a  mile  in  extent.  The 
numbers  of  these  observable  in  one  place,  evince  that  it  must  have  been 
a  settlement  or  permanent  residence.  Some  care,  it  may  be  observed, 
is  requisite  to  discriminate  the  site  of  a  Celtic  town,  for  many  remains, 
presenting  a  similar  appearance,  may  be  referred  to  military  encamp- 
ments of  more  recent  times. 

The  arrangement  of  the  huts  was  made  apparently  without  much  de- 
sign. The  Germans,  according  to  Tacitus,  placed  their  houses  in  oppo- 
site rows,  each  having  a  certain  clear  space  around  it.  In  one  of  the 
bardic  poems  we  are  informed  that  twelve  were  the  houses  in  the  camp 
of  Fingal,  and  twelve  were  the  fires  in  each  house.  This  seems  to  prove 
that  there  was  a  settled  order  among  the  Gael.  The  disposition  of  the 
booths  or  tents  within  the  area  of  a  fortification  was  probably  left  to  a 
certain  individual  who  acted  as  quarter-master:  such  an  officer  in  the 
Highlands  appears  to  have  had  a  power  of  regulating  the  position  of  the 
vassals'  huts.  This  member  of  their  establishment  was  retained  by  most 
of  the  chiefs  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  he  was  entitled, 
among  other  perquisites,  to  the  hides  of  all  animals  that  were  killed. 

The  royal  palace  of  Wales  was  surrounded  by  lesser  edifices,  consti- 
tuting the  kitchen,  dormitory,  chapel,  granary,  storehouse,  bakehouse. 


*  Martin,  p.  154. 


SUBTERRANEOUS  ABODES. 


stable,  and  dog  house.  Whoever  burnt  or  otherwise  destroyed  the  pal- 
ace, was  obliged  to  pay  one  pound  and  eighty  pence;  and  the  fine  for 
each  of  the  other  houses  was  a  hundred  and  twenty  pence,  a  total  of  £5: 
6s:  Sd.  or  about  .€160  of  our  money. 

In  the  infancy  of  society,  natural  caverns  are  used  as  hiding  places 
during  war,  and  repositories  for  grain  or  other  valuable  articles.  That 
the  Britons  availed  themselves  of  such  places  of  retreat  there  can  be  no 
reason  to  doubt,  and  that  they  improved  the  work  of  nature  is  evident 
from  many  curious  remains.  Several  caves  in  the  Western  Islands, 
and  throughout  Britain,  contain  places  for  the  purpose  of  cooking,  seats 
hewn  in  the  natural  rock.  Sic;  and  some  are  not  only  well  lighted,  but 
are  divided  into  various  apartments. 

Subterraneous  abodes  seem  to  have  been  invariably  selected  for  secre- 
tion by  primitive  nations.  Josephus  mentions  them  in  Galilee,  and  during 
the  Crusades  the  inhabitants  retired  to  them  for  security.  The  Cimmerii 
lived  in  caverns  under  ground,  and  the  Germans,  in  winter,  retreated  to 
caves  covered  with  dung,  where  they  also  deposited  their  grain.*  Even 
in  the  time  of  Kirchurus,  they  occasionally  lived  in  such  places,  and 
there  the  gipsies  of  that  country  still  pass  their  winters. 

The  singular  caves  at  Hawthornden,  near  Edinburgh,  have  at  differ- 
ent periods  afforded  a  safe  and  not  uncomfortable  retreat  to  the  celebrat- 
ed Alexander  Ramsay,  Dunbar,  Haliburton,  and  others.  A  remarkable 
cave  was  discovered  at  Auxerre  in  1735;  |  and  in  Picardy,  a  vast  exca- 
vation in  form  of  a  St.  Andrew's  cross  was  laid  open. J  The  subterra- 
nean works  and  caverns  of  the  Britons  may  be  seen  near  Blackheath 
and  Crayford  in  Kent,  at  Royston,  in  Hertfordshire,  in  Essex,  in  Corn- 
wall, near  Guilford,  at  Nottingham,  and  in  other  parts.  A  curious  place 
of  this  sort  was  recently  discovered  near  Grantham,  hewn  out  of  the 
white  stone  rock,  in  the  interior  of  which  was  found  a  hand  mill,  with 
wheat  and  barley  of  a  black  color  and  apparently  mixed  with  ashes. 
The  great  cavern  in  Badenoch,  where  nine  of  the  principal  men  of  the 
Cumins  were  slain  by  Alexander  Macpherson,  commonly  called  the  Re- 
vengeful, is  thirty  feet  square  and  ten  high.  Curious  subterraneous 
edifices  are  to  be  seen  in  many  parts  of  Ireland,  and  generally  within 
the  area  of  fortifications.  The  side  walls  are  usually  formed  of  large 
stones  pitched  on  end,  the  roof  being  covered  with  horizontal  slabs.  In 
many  cases  the  roof  is  formed  by  several  stones,  each  overlapping  the 
other  until  a  small  space  is  left,  which  is  covered  by  one  of  a  larger  size, 
thus  forming  a  rude  sort  of  arch.  Some  of  these  curious  structures  are 
of  considerable  dimensions,  and  are  divided  into  different  apartments  or 
cells.  §  That  some  may  have  been  places  of  sepulture  is  not  improbable, 
but  their  general  use  was  for  the  deposition  of  the  grain  and  other  valu- 

*  Tacitus.    Mela,  t  Le  Beuf,  Divers  Ecrits,  i,  p.  290. 

t  Mem  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscriptions,  ap.  Pinkerton. 

§  A  view  and  plan  of  a  singular  remain  of  this  kind  at  Annaclough  Mullach,  Kils- 
levy,  Armagh,  is  given  in  Archceologia. 


2eo 


DUNS. 


able  effects  of  the  natives,  and  the  occasional  secretion  of  themselves  in 
troublous  times.  It  was  a  well  known  practice  of  the  Celtic  nations  to 
construct  such  places  as  granaries,  and  Varro  describes  them  as  often 
very  spacious  and  admirably  adapted  for  the  purpose.* 

In  the  North  of  Scotland,  numerous  artificial  caves  are  found,  of  a  con- 
struction resembling  those  in  Ireland.  They  are  called  Eird-houses  in 
the  Low  Country,  and  are  considered  as  the  hiding  places  of  the  abo- 
rigines. They  are  sometimes  of  considerable  extent,  being  long  and 
narrow;  but  many,  to  render  the  size  more  commodious,  have  in  subse- 
quent periods  been  built  up  at  the  farther  end.  The  sides  are  usually 
built  of  small  stones,  without  cement,  and  the  roof  is  composed  of  large 
thin  stones  resting  on  either  side.  The  entrance  to  most  of  them  ap- 
pears now  only  a  rude  hole  or  opening,  but  some  are  more  artificial. 
Near  Tongue,  in  Sutherland,  are  some  where  the  passage  is  formed  by 
large  stones  inclined  to  and  resting  on  each  other. 

The  appearance  of  these  Eird-houses  on  the  exterior,  when  they  are 
at  all  discernible,  is  that  of  a  slight,  green  eminence,  and  except  one  is 
directed  in  his  search,  it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  them.  In  the 
parishes  of  Achindoer  and  Kildrummy,  in  Aberdeenshire,  they  are  nu- 
merous. I  have  inspected  several  in  these  parts;  but  I  confess  I  should 
not  have  looked  for  so  many  as  the  late  Professor  Stuart  says  had  been 
discovered, — not  less  than  forty  or  fifty!  He  justly  observes,  that  per- 
haps so  many  in  one  place  has  never  occurred.  In  all  those  which  he 
visited  nothing  was  found  but  wood  ashes  and  charcoal,  which  with  an 
aperture  for  the  escape  of  smoke,  may  have  been  produced  by  recent 
occupants. 

In  the  parish  of  Golspie,  Sutherland,  subterraneous  buildings  have 
been  discovered,  having  a  small  oblique  entry  from  the  surface  of  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  square,  which  after  advancing  three  yards  widens  to 
about  three  feet,  and  winds  a  few  yards  farther  to  an  apartment  of  about 
twelve  feet  square  and  nine  high,  covered  above  by  large  broad  stones, 
terminating  in  one,  formed  like  a  mill-stone,  having  a  hole  in  the  centre, 
probably  to  emit  smoke.  From  this  cell  a  passage  led  to  others,  which 
are  now  inacessible  from  the  fall  of  the  superincumbent  earth. 

Rude  as  the  common  habitations  of  the  ancient  tribes  were,  and  un- 
important as  the  science  of  domestic  architecture  was  deemed,  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  chief  men  were  of  a  superior  construction.  Adomnan  men- 
tions castles  as  the  residence  of  the  Pictish  kings,  and  many  structures 
are  undoubtedly  of  their  era.  The  existence  of  palaces  of  these  mon- 
archs  at  Abernethy,  in  Perthshire,  has  been  noticed  by  Mr.  Small  in  a 
work  devoted  to  an  investigation  of  the  subject. 

The  Duns,  properly  so  called,  or  those  circular  buildings  in  Scotland, 
constructed  without  any  cement,  and  usually  exhibiting  double  walls,  to 
which  this  term  is  particularly  appropriated,  are  objects  of  great  antiqua- 


De  Re  Rust.  57. 


DUNS. 


361 


rian  interest,  and  admirable  specimens  of  Celtic  architecture.  These 
edifices  have  been  scattered  over  Scotland  in  considerable  numbers,  but 
in  most  cases  but  very  slight  remains  of  their  curious  walls  now  exist. 

It  is  asserted  by  the  author  of  "  Caledonia,"  that  not  one  bears  an  ap- 
pellation from  the  Pictish  or  British  languages;  *  and  that  they  are  only 
found  in  the  parts  where  the  Scandinavians  settled.  Buildings  similar 
in  plan  and  internal  arrangement,  are  indeed  found  in  Orkney,  Shetland, 
and  in  parts  of  Scotland  where  these  people  did  reside;  but  why  may  not 
they  have  imitated  the  construction  of  the  Celts?  or  taken  possession  of 
buildings  erected  before  their  arrival.^  The  learned  Mr.  Grant,  of  Cor- 
imony,  who  devoted  much  attention  to  the  examination  of  these  antique 
structures,  thus  expresses  himself  concerning  them:  "  That  the  Danes, 
or  Norwegians,  and  the  Gael,  were  equally  capable  of  building  such  ed- 
ifices, there  is  no  good  reason  to  entertain  any  doubt;  but  that  these 
towers  were  built  by  the  native  Gael,  and  not  by  foreigners,  appears  to 
be  in  no  small  degree  probable.  They  are  of  an  uncommon  construction, 
and  diflferent  from  any  of  those  antique  edifices  to  be  seen  in  the  islands 
possessed  by  the  Danes." 

A  writer  who  is  not  inclined  to  concede  much  to  the  Celts,  and  who 
has  certainly  studied  the  national  history  with  attention,  however  his 
prejudices  may  have  misled  him,  thus  observes.  "  It  has  been  on  all  oc- 
casions found  that  there  was  a  considerable  resemblance  in  the  manners, 
usages,  warlike  weapons,  and  monumental  practices  of  the  original  Brit- 
ish or  Celtic  inhabitants,  and  those  of  their  early  invaders,  and  there 
seems  no  ground  for  attempting  a  distinction  in  the  structures  which 
they  erected  for  the  purposes  of  defence.  "|  Two  quaeries  may  be 
proposed:  the  Norwegians  invaded  and  subdued  other  countries;  do  we 
find  them  building  any  circular  forts  there?  Are  round  towers  found 
any  where  in  Europe  except  in  the  regions  inhabited  by  Gael?  If 
some  of  the  Duns  bear  names  which  appear  to  indicate  Norwegian  or 
Danish  founders,  many  others  are  distinguished  by  appellations  decided- 
ly Celtic.  Those  of  Glenelg,  without  enumerating  many  others,  have 
the  appropriate  names  of  Caiman,  Conal,  Telve,  and  Troddan,  that  are 
purely  Gaelic,  and  were  apparently  imposed  before  the  introduction  of 
Christianity. 

This  remarkable  assemblage  of  buildings,  one  of  which,  Caistell  Trod- 
dan, being  the  most  perfect,  is  represented  in  the  preceding  vignette,  is, 
or  rather  was,  to  be  seen  in  Glenbeg,  a  small  valley,  which  terminates 
in  Glenelg,  in  Inverness-shire.  Within  the  extent  of  a  mile,  four  of 
these  singular  edifices  were  to  be  seen,  displaying  a  mode  of  construc- 
tion truly  admirable. 

The  one  alluded  to  is  still  upwards  of  thirty  feet  high,  having,  it  is  sup- 
posed, been  originally  somewhat  more  than  forty,  J  and  has  a  clear  area  of 

*  Vol.  i.  p.  343.  t  Mac  Culloch's  Western  Islands,  i.  141. 

}  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  found  it  thirty-four,  and  Gordon,  who  visited  it  about  fifty  yeara 
before  J  calls  it  thirty-three  feet. 


262 


DUNS. 


thirty  feet  diameter.*  Two  walls,  each  four  feet  in  thickness,  are  built 
at  four  feet  distance  from  each  other.  That  in  the  interior  is  perpendic- 
ular, the  outer  one  being  inclined  so  as  to  meet  the  other  near  the  top  of 
the  building.  The  interval  between  is  divided  by  means  of  horizontal 
flat  stones,  inserted  in  both  walls,  into  galleries.  It  was  the  opinion,  ac- 
cording to  the  Rev.  Donald  Mac  Leod,  of  some  old  men,  that  these  pas- 
sages had  originally  a  spiral  ascent,  like  some  on  the  east  coast,  but  they 
seem  rather  to  have  formed  distinct  flats  or  stories,  as  shown  in  the  sec- 
tion (C.)  At  the  junction  of  the  walls,  in  the  interior,  is  a  row  of  large 
flat  projecting  stones,  and  about  eight  feet  below  was  another  similar 
range,  destroyed  by  a  military  contractor. 

There  is  no  window  or  opening  on  the  outside,  except  the  door,  which 
communicates  with  a  small  circular  stone  fabric,  similar  to  what  has  been 
described.  The  windows,  of  which  two  are  detached  from  the  others, 
commence  about  thirteen  feet  from  the  ground.  Six  rows  of  the  first 
are  all  one  and  a  half  feet  wide;  some  are  two  and  others  three  feet  in 
height. 

•*  The  building  of  those  edifices,"  says  Mr.  Grant,  "  must  have  been 
attended  with  immense  labor  and  difficulty.  The  stones  with  which 
those  structures  are  built,  are  many  of  them  of  great  weight  and  size,  and 
must  have  been  brought  from  parts  of  the  country  at  a  great  distance  from 
the  towers.  No  such  stones  are  to  be  found  in  the  whole  extent  of  the 
valley  where  the  towers  stand.  Stones  of  similar  size,  shape,  and  di- 
mensions, it  is  said,  are  to  be  found  near  the  summits  of  some  of  the  high 
mountains  which  form  one  side  of  the  valley.  The  great  mountain  of 
Ben  Nevis,  near  Fort  William,  is  1640  yards  in  height.  This  mountain 
is  not  of  a  conical  figure,  terminating  in  a  sharp  point,  like  many  others 
of  the  highest  mountains  in  Scotland;  the  summit  is  a- plain,  exhibiting 
in  abundance  such  stones  as  those  with  which  the  Glenelg  towers  are 
built.  All  the  stones  are  flat-sided  parallelograms;  their  edges  are  right 
lines,  terminating  in  regular  angles;  they  are  capable  of  being  closely 
joined,  and  built  in  such  manner  as  that  the  superincumbent  stones 
are  made  to  cover  both  ends  of  the  immediately  subjacent  stones  all 
round  the  building. 

"Two  of  these  towers  still  remain,  though  not  whole  or  entire;  the 
other  two  have  been  destroyed  by  unhallowed  hands,  and  taken  away 
to  build  the  barracks  of  Bernera,  standing  at  the  bottom  of  the  larger 
valley  of  Glenelg.  Those  curious  stones,  laid  with  such  admirable  skill, 
and  collected  with  such  wonderful  industry  by  our  remote  ancestors,  were 
to  be  confounded  with  common  stones  of  irregular  figures,  to  be  hidden 
from  the  eye  by  cement  and  mortar,  after  the  manner  of  more  improved 
ages  in  tlie  arts  of  architecture.  Thus  those  curious  monuments  of 
antiquity  were  pulled  asunder,  and  swept  away,  to  gratify  the  mean 
avarice  of  servants  in  the  pay  of  government.    Disgraceful  barbarity! 


*  The  diameter  of  these  buildings  varies  fi:om  seventeen  to  fifteen  feet.. 


DUNS. 


363 


It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  proprietor  of  those  singular  monuments  of  rude 
architecture,  will  in  future  pay  particular  attention  to  the  preservation  of 
their  remains,  which  cannot  but  afford  a  delicious  entertainment  to  th,e 
eye  of  curiosity." 

These  sentiments  of  a  zealous  and  learned  antiquary,  must  be  conge- 
nial to  every  cultivated  mind.  It  is  unfortunately  too  often  to  be  regretted 
that  the  interesting  remains  of  ancient  art  fall  into  the  hands  of  those 
who  have  no  veneration  for  the  works  of  antiquity,  nor  admiration  of  the 
ingenuity  of  former  ages.  Arthur's  oven,  that  unique  and  curious  spe- 
cimen of  ancient  architecture,  standing  near  the  river  Carron,  was  rased 
to  the  ground  for  the  construction  of  a  mill-pond!  This  venerable  mon- 
ument, of  which  Stukely  and  Gordon  give  engravings,  was  of  a  circular 
form.  The  walls  were  bent  over  in  the  manner  of  a  vault,  without  closing, 
a  considerable  aperture  being  left  in  the  centre,  which  with  an  arched  door 
and  small  window  lighted  the  interior.  It  has  been  supposed  a  Roman 
temple  erected  to  Terminus.  Horsley  thinks  it  a  sepulchre,  and  Pink- 
erton  believes  it  gave  the  hint  for  the  erection  of  the  Duns.  It  is  cer- 
tainly of  the  same  character,  and  resembled  some  structures  in  Ireland 
that  will  be  briefly  noticed. 

The  following  sections  of  two  of  these  buildings,  dun  Dornghil,  in 
Strathmore,  parish  of  Durness,  in  Sutherland,  (A,)  and  the  burg  of 
Mousa,  (B,)  supposed  of  Norwegian  construction,  show  no  further 
difference  than  a  greater  rudeness  in  the  latter. 


A  B 


The  stairs  of  these  Duns  were  sometimes,  as  before  observed,  carried 
up  in  a  rude  winding  form,  as  in  that  at  Mousa;  but  the  general  plan 
appears  to  have  been  in  the  manner  shown  by  this  section, 


Pun  Dornghil,  erroneously  called  Dornadilla,  is  represented  at  the 


264 


DUNS. 


termination  of  this  Chapter.  It  was,  in  the  memory  of  man,  about  thirty 
feet  high,  but  is  now  much  dilapidated.  Not  a  stone  of  this  fabric  "is 
moulded  by  a  hammer,  nor  is  there  any  fog  or  other  material  used  to  fill 
up  the  interstices  among  the  stones;  yet  the  stones  are  most  artfully  laid 
together,  seem  to  exclude  the  air,  and  have  been  piled  with  great 
mathematical  exactness." 

The  following  verse  concerning  it,  is  repeated  by  the  inhabitants. 

Dun  Dornghil  Mac  DuifF 

Or  an  taobh  ri  meira  don  strha 

Sehcht  mille  o  manir 

Er  an  rod  a  racha  na  fir  do  Gholen. 

TRANSLATION. 

The  Dun  of  Dornghiall,  son  of  Duff, 
Built  on  the  side  of  the  strath  next  to  Rea, 
Seven  miles  from  the  ocean, 

And  in  the  way  by  which  the  warriors  travel  to  Caithness.* 
Castle  Coul,  situated  upon  a  rock  at  the  black  water  of  Strathbeg, 
parish  of  Clyne,  in  the  same  county,  is  another  remarkable  edifice  of 
similar  construction.  The  walls  are  now  only  about  eleven  feet  high; 
they  are  thirteen  and  a  half  feet  thick  at  the  base,  and  leave  an  area  of 
twenty-seven  feet  clear.  The  stones  are  large  and  well  joined,  without 
any  cement,  and  the  building  inclines  inwards  nine  inches  in  three  feet. 

In  the  middle  of  the  wall,  on  each  side  of  the  entrance,  which  is  three 
and  a  half  feet  in  height  by  two  and  a  half  in  width,  is  a  small  apartment, 
about  six  feet  square  and  five  feet  high,  that  seems  to  have  been  intended 
for  a  guard  room.  Six  feet  from  the  base  of  the  wall  are  the  remains  of 
another,  which  surrounded  the  dun.  This  appears  to  have  been  for  the 
purpose  of  forming,  by  means  of  large  flag  stones  stretching  to  the  castle 
walls,  an  additional  security  from  assault.  In  this  place  it  is  said  the 
cattle  were  kept  during  the  night,  and  when  the  country  was  invaded. "j* 
The  water  of  the  river  was  carried  by  a  ditch  round  the  castle. 

In  the  parish  of  Dunse,  county  of  Berwick,  is  a  ruin  called  Edwin's 
Hall,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  by  the  Picts,  and  will  be 
seen  from  the  descriptionj  to  be  of  the  same  class  as  the  Duns  just 
described,  only  exhibiting  an  arrangement  of  three  walls,  with  a  mode 
of  connecting  the  stones  extremely  ingenious  and  uncommon.  Like  all 
similar  structures,  it  is  situated  on  an  eminence.  Cockburn  Law,  the 
site  of  this  fort,  is  900  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  circular 
walls,  seven  feet  in  thickness,  are  concentric,  and  the  clear  interior  area 
is  forty  feet.  The  stones  are  chiefly  a  hard  whinstone,  and  are  fixed 
without  any  cement,  but  are  attached  to  each  other  by  alternate  grooves 
and  projections,  or,  in  technical  phrase,  are  dove-tailed. 

In  Ireland,  from  statements  in  a  foregoing  page,  it  might  seem  there 
were  anciently  no  buildings  of  stone.    Such  observations  are  to  betaken 

*  Rev.  A.  Pope,  in  Archseologia,  v. 

t  Henderson's  View  of  the  Agriculture  of  the  County. 

+  Traveller's  Guide  through  Scotland. 


ROUND  TOWERS. 


266 


in  a  general  sense,  or  with  so  much  allowance,  as  will  prevent  the 
appearance  of  contradiction.  The  subterraneous  structures  already 
noticed  were  rude,  but  successful  attempts  in  masonry:  and  although  it  is 
believed  by  some  of  the  antiquaries  of  that  country,  that  the  Domliag,  or 
stone  house  of  St.  Kianan,  was  the  first  of  that  kind,  there  is  some  reason 
to  entertain  another  opinion.  Many  curious  buildings  are  scattered 
throughout  that  interesting  island,  which,  from  their  singularity  of  style, 
and  unknown  appropriation,  are  in  all  probability  of  extreme  antiquity. 
On  the  Skelig  isle,  off  the  coast  of  Kerry,  are  the  remains  of  several 
cells,  which  are  built  of  a  circular  form  and  arched  over.  No  cement 
whatever  is  used,  but  the  stones  are  dove-tailed  together  in  a  very  in- 
genious manner.  On  the  Island  of  Innis  Mackellan,  opposite  Dunmore 
Head,  and  at  Gallerus,  are  similar  ceils;  and  at  Fane,  all  in  the  same 
county,  are  the  ruins  of  another.*  These  buildings  are  perfectly  imper- 
vious to  water,  and,  consequently,  were  well  calculated  to  resist  the 
injuries  of  the  weather  for  many  ages. 

The  ROUND  TOWERS,  so  numerous  in  Ireland,  and  which  are  spoken  of 
by  Giraldus  Cambrensis  as  of  great  antiquity,  even  when  he  wrote,  have 
attracted  not  merely  the  notice  of  the  antiquary,  but  excited  the  admira- 
tion and  curiosity  of  all  who  view  them.  Their  singularity,  and  the 
mystery  which  envelopes  their  origin  and  design,  have  drawn  towards 
them  much  attention,  and  elicited  many  curious  speculations  on  their 
apparent  uses  and  probable  era  of  construction. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  they  served  as  edifices  wherein  to  preserve 
the  sacred  fire  of  the  Druids.  It  has  been  also  said  that  they  were  pla- 
ces of  residence  and  probation  for  devotees,  who,  by  religious  exercises 
and  privations,  gradually  ascended  from  story  to  story,  as  they  mortified 
the  flesh  and  improved  in  holiness,  secluding  themselves  from  society, 
and  acquiring  a  high  reputation  for  superior  devotion,  and  perhaps  su- 
pernatural powers.  This  supposition,  which  may  receive  some  counte- 
nance from  what  Tacitus  relates  of  the  Prophetess  Veleda,  that  she  did 
not  permit  herself  to  be  seen,  but  lived  in  a  high  toiver,  having  an  attend- 
ant to  communicate  between  her  and  all  applicants, "j*  and  which  does 
not  appear  to  have  struck  any  inquirers,  is  yet  entirely  conjectural.  The 
preceding  opinion  is  liable  to  the  same  objection,  and  is  considered  by 
Mr.  Higgins  as  completely  overthrown  by  the  fact  of  the  crucifixion, 
and  other  sculptures  emblematical  of  Christianity,  appearing  on  the 
walls.  This  is  not  a  just  conclusion,  except  it  is  first  satisfactorily  as- 
certained whether  these  figures  are  part  of  the  original  work.  It  cer- 
tainly appears  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  connexion  of  the  towers 
with  Christianity,  that  they  are  always  in  the  vicinity  of  churches,  and 
that  those  churches  are  invariably  without  steeples. J    It  is  to  be  borne 

*  Luckombe's  Tour.  At  Ithaca,  a  building  resembling  these  still  exists,  supporting 
Grant's  idea  of  the  origin  of  the  Gael.  Poems  and  Translations  from  the  Gaelic  by 
Mr.  Donald  Mac  Pherson. 

t  Annals  iv.  t  Archdall's  Men.  Hist.,  259,  et  seq.,  &c. 

34 


266 


ROUND  TOWERS. 


in  mind,  however,  that  Christian  places  of  worship  were  founded  on  the 
sites  of  ancient  temples;*  and  it  is  obvious  that  where  one  of  those 
towers  existed  there  was  no  necessity  for  building  another  steeple,  its 
chief  use  being  to  hold  the  bells.  That  the  towers  were  appropriat- 
ed for  this  purpose  seems  clear,  from  their  name  of  Cloghad,  or  bell 
tower.  This  appellation  is  decisive  of  their  having  been  long  so  appro- 
priated; but  it  has  been  asserted,  without  much  reason,  that  their  small 
diameter  rendered  them  unfit  for  belfries.  The  height  of  these  tow- 
ers varies  from  about  60  feet  to  130.  The  walls  are  usually  about  3 
feet  in  thickness,  and  the  clear  diameter  about  10  feet.|  They  are 
built  of  stones  about  a  foot  square,  neatly  joined  with  very  little  cement. 
The  inside  is  sometimes  remarkably  smooth,  and  the  masonry  is  so 
good,  that  instances  have  occurred  of  their  falling  down  and  lying 
entire  on  the  ground,  like  a  huge  cannon.  Those  in  best  repair  are 
covered  by  a  conical  roof  of  stone,  which  has  usually  windows  facing 
the  cardinal  points,  and  the  inside  generally  shows  the  corbel  stones  on 
which  the  wooden  floors  of  four  to  six  different  apartments  rested.  The 
door  is  commonly  a  considerable  distance  from  the  ground,  sometimes 
15  feet  or  more,  and  this  is  reckoned  one  of  their  most  unaccountable 
peculiarities. 

Assuming  that  these  towers  were  erected  after  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  is  it  not  probable  that  they  were  used  as  watch  towers, 
whence  the  approach  of  an  enemy  could  be  descried  at  a  great  distance, 
and  to  which  the  ecclesiastics  could  speedily  retreat  with  their  relics  and 
other  valuable  articles?  The  elevated  entrance  demonstrates  that  it 
was  intended  to  be  difficult  of  access,  and  is  a  well-known  characteristic 
of  the  fortifications  of  other  nations.  A  subterraneous  passage  between 
the  cathedral  of  Cashel  and  its  attendant  tower  corroborates  the  opinion 
that  it  was  a  place  of  retreat.  Consistent  with  this  use  would  be  the 
position  of  an  alarm  bell,  to  ring  on  the  advance  of  invading  enemies,  or 
the  ferocious  nations  who  had  not  learned  to  respect  the  persons  of  the 
clergy,  or  the  rights  of  the  church.  In  Scotland,  and  I  believe  also  in 
Wales,  the  steeples  of  old  churches  have  crenellated  battlements,  and 
other  appearances  of  having  been  built  with  the  prospect  of  having  to 
sustain  assaults,  and  the  pages  of  history  inform  us  that  the  sacred  edi- 
fice did  not  always  protect  its  inmates  from  the  rage  of  a  barbarous  foe. 
In  Scotland  there  still  exist  two  round  towers,  in  every  respect  like  those 
in  Ireland.  They  both  stand  in  the  territories  of  the  ancient  Picts;  and 
Abernethy,  where  one  of  them  is  seen,  was  once  the  capital  of  their 
kingdom.  The  tower  here  is  about  seventy-four  feet  high,  and  has  re- 
cently got  a  covering  of  lead.  The  stones  of  which  it  is  built  have  been 
brought  from  the  Lomond  hills,  five  miles  distant,  and  are  carefully  plac- 
ed in  regular  courses,  without  much  cement.    The  Rev.  Andrew  Small 

*  The  tower  at  Cashel  is  believed  to  be  the  oldest  building  on  the  rock, 
t  At  Kineigh,     ruined  church  near  Inniskeen,  is  a  tower  he  diagonal  to  c^rtwft 
height. 


CASTLES.— COTTAGES. 


267 


notices  the  tradition,  that  the  stones  were  handed  from  one  person  to 
another,  the  edifice  being  finished  in  one  day;  to  accomplish  which,  he 
calculates  that  5,500  men  were  sufiicient.  It  is  clear  to  him  "  as  a  sun- 
beam," that  this  tower  is  the  burjing-place  of  the  Pictish  kings,  and,  on 
digging,  an  urn,  and  eight  or  ten  skulls,  with  other  parts  of  the  human 
body,  and  some  bones  of  dogs  were  discovered.  The  tower  at  Brechin 
consists  of  sixty  regular  courses  of  hewn  stone,  of  a  fairer  color  than  the 
adjoining  church.  It  is  eighty-five  feet  high  to  the  cornice,  above  which 
is  a  low  roof  of  stone  with  four  windows.  It  communicates  with  the 
ancient  cathedral  by  a  door,  which,  like  that  at  Abernethy,  is  on  the 
north  side,  but  this  may  not  be  original.  Both  are  about  forty-eight 
feet  in  outward  circumference,  which  is,  with  a  few  exceptions,  larger 
than  those  in  Ireland. 

The  castles  of  Dunstaffhage,  Inverlochy,  and  many  others,  are  of  un- 
deniable antiquity.  It  is  true  that  the  remaining  ruins  do  not  display 
very  perceptibly  the  marks  of  primitive  architecture.  Buildings  were 
successively  repaired  and  renewed,  until  all  traces  of  the  original  work 
were  lost;  but  it  would  be  quite  unwarrantable  to  deny  that  the  struct- 
ures referred  to  in  history,  as  standing  on  the  sites  of  these  building?* 
never  existed.  Both  Picts  and  Caledonians  were  able  to  raise  fabrics 
of  sufficient  grandeur  and  strength  for  the  accommodation  and  security 
of  their  princes. 

The  Gael  do  not  adhere  to  the  circular  form  in  which  their  ancestors 
built  their  houses,  but  construct  them  of  an  oblong  that  sometimes 
stretches  a  considerable  way.  From  the  abundance  of  the  material, 
they  are  usually  of  stone,  built  with  much  nicety,  and  are  finished  with 
or  without  the  addition  of  mortar,  according  to  circumstances.  Turf 
and  stone,  in  alternate  layers,  are  much  used,  the  first  being  laid  in 
manner  of  herring-bone  work.  A  sort  of  wall,  formed  of  clay  and  straw, 
mixed  together,  called  Achenhalrig,  is  prevalent  in  Banff  and  Moray- 
shires.  The  interior  arrangement  is  simple.  Each  end  forms  an  apart- 
ment, the  centre  being  occupied  by  wooden  fixed  beds,  ambries  or  cup- 
boards, &c.  These  are  termed  in  Scotish  the  but  and  ben  ends,  which 
are  the  Saxon  words  "  be  out  "  and  "  be  in,"  applied  to  the  common  and 
better  apartments.* 

The  cottages  in  Scotland  are  constructed  without  much  trouble  or 
expense,  and  are  generally  the  work  of  the  owners.  An  old  corporal  in 
Sutherland,  who  appears,  from  having  seen  a  little  of  the  world,  to  have 
acquired  a  taste  for  something  better  than  the  common  sort  of  houses, 
being  asked  how  he  intended  to  build  his  dwelling,  replied,  that  there 
should  be  one  good  room  in  it,  should  it  cost  two  pounds!  Few  houses, 
except  those  of  the  chiefs  and  clergymen,  had  any  upper  floor,  or  any 
ceiling.  In  many  parts  of  the  Highlands  there  is  a  difficulty  of  procur- 
ing wood  of  sufficient  length  for  couples  or  rafters.     Cabers  are  rough 


^  The  Dutch  have  a,}ao  buten  an,d  benen. 


268 


COTTAGES 


boughs  spread  across  the  rafters;  and  for  defence  these  were  formerly 
interwoven,  and  the  whole  roof  strongly  wattled. 

A  usual  covering  for  the  houses  in  Scotland  is  feil  or  divot,  i.  e.  turf 
cut  tniniy,  and  with  much  nicety,  by  a  peculiar  implement  called  a 
flaughter  spade.  This,  when  used  alone,  is  laid  in  manner  of  slating, 
with  the  greatest  care  and  the  regularity  of  fishes'  scales.  The  turf  is 
generally  covered  with  heath,  a  material  so  cheap  and  lasting,  that  it  is 
surprising  to  find  it  not  universally  adopted.  It  can  be  used  alone, 
and  with  timber  of  a  very  ordinary  description.  It  also  takes  very  little 
trouble  to  keep  in  repair;  and,  if  the  covering  is  well  executed,  it  is 
equal  to  slates,  and  will  last  100  years,  if  the  timber  do  not  give  way. 
Many  churches  were  formerly  covered  with  heath,  some  within  my  own 
memory,  the  services  from  lands  bemg  often  a  certain  quantity  of  it  for 
this  purpose.  Its  only  disadvantage  is  being  heavier  than  straw  or  rush- 
es. Fern  or  rainneach  is  next  to  heath,  but  much  inferior,  and  will  not 
last  above  twelve  or  fifteen  years.  In  Argyle  the  houses  appear  to  be 
chiefly  covered  with  it.  A  straw  thatched  roof  is  light,  and  has  this  ad- 
vantage, that  it  is  warmer  in  winter,  and  cooler  in  summer  than  the 
others. 

The  floors  are  commonly  of  clay  or  mortar,  well  hardened,  but  it  is 
often  partially  laid  with  stones.  The  ben  end  in  the  houses  of  the  better 
sort  is  sometimes  floored  with  wood,  and  the  ceiling  is  often  of  the  same 
material.  The  windows  are  small,  and  few  in  number,  and  glass  is  an 
article  with  which  they  can  easily  dispense.  The  room  is  chiefly  lighted 
by  the  chimney,  and  this,  in  the  old-fashioned  houses,  where  the  fire 
occupied  the  middle  of  the  apartment,  was  in  the  roof  above  it.  In 
many  Highland  cottages  it  still  retains  this  situation,  a  position  which 
allows  the  inmates  to  get  around  it,  an  accommodation  so  desirable,  that 
where  the  hearth  is  fixed,  in  accordance  with  the  modern  plan,  at  one 
end,  a  sufficient  space  is  often  reserved  for  seats  between  the  wall  and 
the  fire.  In  the  aboriginal  huts  the  most  convenient  site  for  the  fires 
was  the  middle  of  the  dwelling.  The  Welsh  had  not  altered  its  place  in 
the  time  of  Cambrensis,  who  informs  us  it  occupied  the  centre  of  the 
round  hall,  and  men,  women,  and  children  slept  around  it  on  rushes 
spread  on  the  floor.  Chimneys  were  alike  unknown  to  the  ancient  and 
recent  Gael.  At  the  present  day,  they  have  in  many  cases  adopted  the 
artificial  funnel  for  carrying  off* the  smoke;  but  a  hole  in  the  roof,  above 
which  there  is  sometimes  a  low  chimney  of  wood  or  wicker  work,  is 
usually  all  that  is  thought  necessary,  and  very  inefficient  it  generally  is. 
It  has  been  observed  by  a  recent  traveller  in  these  parts,  that  chimneys 
are  a  premature  improvement,  the  cottages,  while  constructed  on  the 
old  plan,  and  the  inhabitants  remaining  in  the  same  state,  being  suflni- 
ciently  comfortable. 

The  houses  of  the  Gauls  were  coated  inside  with  an  earth  or  clay, 
sometimes  so  varied,  pure,  and  transparent,  that  it  resembled  painting.* 


*  Tacitus. 


HOUSES. 


2«9 


The  Britons  preferred  plainness  in  the  decoration  of  their  dwellings, 
white-washing  the  clay  with  chalk  only.*  The  old  Irish  seem  to  have 
ornamented  their  wooden  buildings  with  rude  paintings. 

The  furniture  of  the  houses  was  more  ample  than  might  at  first  be 
supposed.  When  we  find  the  arts  of  carpentry,  pottery,  8tc.,  so  well 
understood  in  remote  ages,  it  must  be  evident  that  the  dwellings  of  the 
Celts  were  not  destitute  of  those  articles  which  are  subservient  to  do- 
mestic comfort.  In  this  place,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  notice  the  general 
appearance  of  their  habitations,  before  proceeding  to  view,  more  partic- 
ularly, their  manner  of  living.  As  might  be  expected  in  those  rude  and 
martial  people,  the  Celts  had  some  singular  and  barbarous  modes  of 
ornamenting  and  furnishing  their  houses.  They  hung  up  the  spoils  of 
their  enemies,  with  the  skins  and  other  parts  of  animals  which  they  had 
killed,  in  the  vestibules  of  their  houses.  The  heads  of  the  most  noble 
of  their  enemies  who  fell  in  battle  were  cut  off,  and  after  being  erfibalm- 
ed  with  oil  of  cedar,  and  other  substances,  they  were  carefully  deposited 
in  chests,  and  exhibited  to  strangers  with  much  ostentation.  They 
boasted  with  pride,  that  their  fathers  or  themselves,  although  offered 
much  money,  would  not  accept  it,  nay,  refused  to  part  with  them  even 
for  their  weight  in  gold.  The  Caledonians  were  also  accustomed  to 
decapitate  their  enemies;  but  whether  they  preserved  them  to  ornament 
their  dwellings,  we  are  ndt  aware. 

A  poetical  description  is  not  indeed  to  be  received  as  a  faithful  and 
unexaggerated  picture,  but  it  may  tend  to  prove  the  existence  of  the 
arts  of  civilized  life,  among  a  people  deemed  by  many  little  better  than 
savage.  The  chamber  of  Everallin,  the  spouse  of  Ossian,  was  "  covered 
with  the  down  of  birds,  its  doors  were  yellow  with  gold,  and  the  side 
posts  were  of  polished  bone."  We  have  found  corroborative  testimony 
that  the  ancient  Gael  were  able  to  form  more  ingenious  ornaments  than 
these,  and  an  opportunity  will  shortly  offer  to  investigate  riiore  particu- 
larly their  acquirements  in  various  arts. 


*  Strutt  from  the  same. 


CHAPTER  l± 


OF  ANIMALS,  AND  THE  MANNER  OF  HUNTING, 

Hunting  is  one  of  the  principal  occupations  of  mankind  in  a  state  of 
barbarism.  With  the  exception  of  war,  it  is  almost  their  sole  pursuit,  and 
the  necessity  of  following  it  as  a  chief  means  of  subsistence,  overcomes 
the  indolence  which  is  so  characteristic  of  uncivilized  nations. 

The  Celtae  were  celebrated  hunters,  and  they  pursued  the  game  not 
only  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  themselves  with  food,  but  as  an  agreea- 
ble diversion,  suited  to  their  active  and  roaming  dispositions.  There 
was  also  an  advantage  in  hunting,  which,  perhaps,  had  some  influence 
in  stimulating  them  to  the  pursuit:  it  lessened  the  number  of  ferocious 
animals  with  which  their  dense  woods  were  filled,  and  to  which  their 
flocks  were  so  much  exposed,  and  this  was  urged  as  a  strong  reason  by 
the  Highlanders  why  they  should  be  allowed  to  retain  their  arms.  The 
produce  of  the  chase  continued  to  afford  the  Celts  a  plentiful  supply  of 
venison  when  it  had  long  ceased  to  be  their  chief  dependence.  The 
ancient  Caledonians  had  numerous  herds  of  domestic  animals,  and  raised 
a  scanty  supply  of  corn.  Their  successors  extended  agriculture,  but  they 
preferred  the  hunting  and  shepherd  state  in  which  they  remained  until  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  continued  both  the  practice  and  love  of  fowling 
and  the  chase  until  the  disarming  act  altered  their  situation.  Allan  Mac 
Dougal,  a  modern  bard,  regrets  this  change,  in  lines  imitated  in  English 
by  a  literary  friend: 


HUNTING. 


271 


"  Cha  n'eil  abhachd  feadh  na  beann, 
Tha  giomanich  teann  fo  smachd  ; 
Tha  fear  na  croichde  air  chall, 
Chaigh  gach  eilid  a's  inang  as. 
Cha  "n-  f  haighar  ruagh-bhoclid  nan  alt 
Le  cu  seang  gachuir  le  strath ; 
An  eiric  gach  cuis  a  bh'  ann 
Feidirich  na'n  gall  sgach  glaichd."  ^ 

"  The  cheerless  hunter  hangs  his  pensive  head, 
No  rnoie  the  hills  re-echo  to  his  voice  ; 
To  meet  the  stately  stag  with  mantle  red, 
No  more  the  iawn  and  bounding  doe  rejoice 
No  more  is  heard  the  deep-rnouthed  hollow  voice 
Of  the  lank  greyhound  that  pursues  the  roe  ; 
But,  in  exchange  for  all  our  former  joys, 
Foul  frowsy  shepherds,  whistling  as  they  go. 
Are  seen  in  every  glen,  O  bitter  sight  of  wo  !" 

Sealg  is  sugradh  nan  glean,"*  a  favorite  air  of  the  mountaineerSj 
keeps  alive  the  recollection  of  other  times. 

The  Highlander  scorned  the  shepherd  life  as  an  occupation,  but  none 
could  be  more  attentive  to  the  condition  and  pasturage  of  his  flocks  and 
herds.  The  care  of  looking  after  the  cattle  was  assigned  to  the  youth 
between  boyhood  and  manhood:  tending  the  goats  and  sheep  was  the 
peculiar  duty  of  the  girls.  The  Gael  thought  it  beneath  them  to  spend 
their  time  in  the  servile  occupation  of  a  shepherd,  but  were  by  no  means 
unwilling  to  assist  their  fair  partners,  recommending  themselves  to  the 
good  opinion  of  their  mistress  by  an  attention  to  her  fleecy  care. 

The  existence  in  Europe,  at  some  remote  period,  of  many  animals  that 
are  no  longer  found  in  these  regions,  and  of  certain  creatures  whose 
species  are  now  extinct,  is  well  known.  It  is  not  intended  to  investigate 
the  subject  of  the  curious  variety  of  fossil  remains  that  have  so  often 
been  discovered, — the  deposits,  perhaps,  of  an  antediluvian  world;  but 
it  is  necessary  to  notice  some  of  the  animals  that  must  have  formerly  in- 
habited these  climates.  Britain  and  its  surrounding  islands  are  found  to 
have  once  contained  an  extensive  and  strange  variety  of  the  brute  crea- 
tion. The  bones  of  a  large  sort  of  bear,  of  the  hygena,  of  the  elephant, 
&c.,  have  been  discovered.  The  Welsh  Triads  notice  the  first  as  in- 
habiting the  island  before  it  became  the  permanent  residence  of  human 
beings.  Guillim  says  the  bear  was  carried  from  Britain  to  Rome,  but  he 
does  not  give  his  authority  for  the  assertion.  It  was  very  common  in 
Spain,  where  the  flesh  was  esteemed  good  food.  The  Beaver,  an  animal 
of  which  there  will  be  occasion  to  speak  in  a  succeeding  page,  long 
haunted  the  British  rivers  and  lakes,  and  was  only  becoming  rare  in  the 
time  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis.  In  the  Welsh  histories,  this  animal  is 
called  efaine,  in  Gaelic  it  is  named  beathadach. 

One  of  the  most  singular  animals  that  formerly  lived  in  these  islands, 

*  The  ancient  hunting  and  hilarity  of  the  glen. 


272 


MOOSE  DEER.— ALCE.- WOLVES. 


is  the  MOOSE  deer,  but  the  period  of  its  existence  has  not  been  satisfac- 
torily ascertained.  Even  the  Irish  legends,  whose  antiquity  seems  able 
to  reach  the  probable  era,  do  not  appear  to  recognise  these  animals  as 
inhabitants  of  Erin,  where  their  remains  are  so  frequently  discovered. 
In  a  learned  communication  by  Dr.  Hibbert,  which  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  hearing  read  at  a  ineeting  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  it 
was  maintained  that  they  have  not  been  so  long  extinct  as  is  generally 
believed.  On  this  occasion  it  was  remarked,  on  what  authority  I  cannot 
tell,  that  the  Norwegians  were  anciently  accustomed  to  pass  from  Orkney 
to  the  mainland  of  Scotland,  to  hunt  the  Rein-deer!  If  this  is  true,  the 
climate  must  be  greatly  altered.  It  is  much  too  warm  now  for  this  hardy 
animal,  which  was  formerly  to  be  found  plentifully  in  the  Hyrcinian 
forest,  in  modern  Germany,  which  they  have  long  abandoned  for  colder 
regions. 

Whether  the  moose  deer  were  cut  off  by  a  general  murrain,  or  were 
extirpated  by  the  efforts  of  mankind,  is  matter  of  conjecture.  The  re- 
mains of  some  have  been  found,  that  bore  the  plain  appearance  of  having 
received  a  deep  wound,  the  apparent  cause  of  death.  The  horns  of  this 
animal,  that  are  frequently  dug  up  in  Ireland,  in  Scotland,  and  in  the 
Isle  of  Man,  are  discovered  sometimes  alone,  and  at  other  times,  seve- 
ral together,  and  they  are  not  seldom  attached  to  the  scull.  These  enor- 
mous horns  have  measured  two  yards  in  length  and  nearly  fifteen  feet 
from  tip  to  tip.  The  only  species  of  animal  resembling  the  moose  deer, 
which  is  known  now  to  exist,  is  that  in  America,  which  bears  the  same 
name.  The  Alce  of  the  continent,  from  the  descriptions  of  the  ancients, 
was  a  very  singular  animal.  It  was  so  extremely  shy  that  it  was  very 
seldom  taken  or  killed,  and  the  greatest  cunning  was  requisite  to  surprise 
it,  for  it  could  not  be  regularly  hunted  like  other  game.  According  to 
Pausanias,  it  was  an  animal  between  a  camel  and  a  stag:  *  it  appears  to 
have  been  the  elk,  the  bones  of  which  are  often  found  in  different  parts 
of  Britain.  The  Elk  is  mentioned  in  several  poems  of  the  ancient 
Bards.  To  this  authority,  however,  the  skeptical  may  object,  as  well  as 
to  a  tradition  but  little  known,  that  Lon  dubh,  a  term  now  given  to  the 
blackbird,  was  originally  the  name  of  the  moose  deer,  some  of  which 
Ossian  appears  to  have  seen. 

Wolves  were  anciently  very  numerous  on  the  continent  and  in  the 
British  islands.  The  exaction  of  their  heads  as  a  tribute  from  the  Brit- 
ons, and  the  imposition  of  a  certain  number  as  a  compensation  for  crimes, 
led  to  the  extirpation  of  this  fierce  inhabitant  of  the  forest.  The  wolf 
has  been  extinct  in  Scotland  since  1697,  when  the  last  one  was  destroy- 
ed by  the  celebrated  Sir  Ewen  Cameron,  of  Lochiel.  The  statutes  by 
which  the  Barons  were  enjoined  "  to  hunt  and  chace  the  wolfe  and 
Wolfe's  whalps,  four  times  a  year,  and  as  often  as  they  see  them;"t  and 
"the  Scherrif  and  Baillie  to  hunt  them  thrice  in  the  year,"  with  power 
to  raise  the  country  to  their  assistance,  J  prove  how  numerous  they  must 
*  Lib.  ix.  21.       t  Seventh  Parliament,  Jaxnes  L       t  First  Parliament,  James  VL 


FOXES.— WILD  CATS.— BOARS. 


273 


have  formerly  been  in  the  north,  and  evince  the  anxiety  of  the  govern- 
ment to  root  out  this  formidable  enemy  to  the  Scotish  farmer.  These 
enactments,  and  a  reward  for  the  heads,  hastened  their  extermination, 
since  which  the  word  fiadhchoin,  literally  wild  dogs,  has  become  obso- 
lete. Malcolm  Laing  thought  he  had  found  a  strong  argument  against 
the  authenticity  of  Ossian's  poems,  in  their  silence  respecting  wolves; 
but  the  publication  of  the  originals  has  overthrown  this^objection,  raised 
from  an  ignorance  of  the  Gaelic  language.  In  the  first  book  of  Fingal 
we  find  "the  growling  of  wolves  from  their  caverns;"*  and  in  the 
poems  of  clan  Uisnichl  and  Cuthon  they  are  also  alluded  to.  Faol, 
which  occurs  in  ancient  poems  and  various  MSS.,  has  long  since  fallen 
into  disuse,  but  is  preserved  in  the  compound  faoilteach,  or  faoltmhi,  the 
wolf-month,  which  includes  the  last  fortnight  of  winter  and  the  first  of 
spring.J  Mada,  a  dog,  and  alluidh,  ferocious,  form  the  present  name 
of  a  wolf  among  the  Highlanders.  Wolves  are  said  to  have  remained  in 
Ireland  until  the  beginning  of  last  century,  the  bog  of  Kilcrea  being  one 
of  their  latest  and  least  accessible  retreats.  Derrick,  in  1581,  speaks  of 
no  other  wild  animal.  Mr.  Adams,  an  English  gentleman,  having  been 
driven  from  his  house  with  his  family  during  the  troubles  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  they  were  attacked  when  in  the  woods,  by  wolves,  and 
the  whole  party,  to  the  number  of  fourteen,  were  destroyed.^ 

The  Lupus  cervarius,  a  hart  or  hind  wolf,  called  by  the  Gauls  Raphi- 
um,  was  found  in  their  extensive  forests,  and  several  were  exhibited  at 
Rome  by  Pompey,  as  natural  curiosities.  ||  They  were  not  the  only  re- 
markable animals  of  the  kind:  there  were  a  sort  of  very  large  and  fierce 
creatures,  called  wolf  dogs,  being  a  cross  from  the  two  animals.  Great 
herds  of  these  roamed  in  the  woods,  and,  what  was  most  singular,  a  par- 
ticular dog  acted  as  a  leader,  all  the  others  following  and  submitting  to 
his  direction,  the  whole  pack  observing  an  appearance  of  order. ^  They 
appear  to  have  resembled  the  Irish  wolf  dog. 

Foxes,  called  Madadh  ruadh,  red  dogs,  or  Sionach,  and  Gat  fiadhaich, 
WILD  CATS,  are  still  plentiful  in  Scotland.  They  are,  indeed,  much  less 
numerous  than  heretofore,  from  the  exertions  of  district  foxhunters,  but 
these  gentlemen  are  not  likely  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  their  own  di- 
versions by  exterminating  the  breed.  The  wild  cat  is  extremely  fero- 
cious, and  does  much  injury  to  the  poultry.  It  would  appear  from  royal 
licenses,  that  this  animal  was  formerly  common  in  England. 

Boars  were  numerous  in  the  primaeval  woods  of  Britain,  where  they 
ranged  in  natural  wildness,  and  hunting  them  was  a  favorite  amusement. 
The  native  domesticated  breed  has  long  been  intermixed  with  others. 
In  Sutherland,  I  believe,  are  still  some  remains  of  the  indrgenal  stock, 
>vhich  was  of  small  size.  In  Man  they  remained  wild,  or  semi-domesti- 
cated, until  lately,  roaming  without  restraint  in  the  woods  and  on  the 

*  Gadhair  is  fiadhchoin  nam  cam.  t  S'air  chuilen  na  fiadhchoin,  stanza  7,  b.  3. 
t  Rep.  on  the  Poems  of  Ossian,  Appendix,  p.  J99. 

§  Ireland's  Tragical  Tyrannic,  4to.  1G42.  |1  Pliny.  IT  Pliny,  vii.  c.  40. 

35 


^4 


DEER.— CALEDONIAN  OX 


mountains.  They  were  called  purrs,  and  had  all  the  flavor  of  the  wilo 
boar.  *  In  the  wastes  of  Germany  these  annuals  seem  still  to  live  in  a 
state  of  nature.  The  ancient  Gauls  appear  to  have  attempted  their  do- 
mestication, but  Atnenasus  says  they  were  allowed  to  remain  during  the 
night  in  the  fields,  and  surpassed  all  others  in  size,  strength,  and  swift- 
ness, being  little  less  dangerous  than  wolves. 

Deer,  once  so  numerous  in  Scotland,  are  much  reduced  in  number, 
and  a  chief  cause  assigned  for  their  disappearance  is  the  decay  of  the 
woods.  In  many  parts,  the  mountains,  that  were  formerly  covered  with 
red  deer  and  roe,  are  no  longer  a  retreat  for  them.  The  improvements 
in  sheepfarming  have  driven  them  to  the  inaccessible  parts  of  the  High- 
lands. Their  ancient  haunts  are  now  traversed  by  the  shepherd  and  his 
dog,  before  whom  they  have  fled  to  the  distant  heights,  and  it  is  in  many 
parts  now  rare  to  meet  with  even  a  solitary  straggler.  This,  however 
unpleasant  to  the  sportsman,  is,  perhaps,  less  to  be  regretted  by  the  far- 
mer, who  might  have  had  his  cornyard  plundered  by  these  animals,  with- 
out being  permitted  to  destroy  them. 

In  the  rugged  mountains  of  Brae  Mar  numerous  herds  of  red  deer 
still  find  protection  in  the  remains  of  the  forest  of  Caledonia,  where  two 
or  three  hundred  are  sometimes  seen  together.  It  is  supposed  that  up- 
wards of  three  thousand  are  in  the  range  of  shooting-ground  attached  to 
Mar  Lodge,  a  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Fife,  which  is  nearly  a  square  of  twen- 
ty miles.  In  the  Rea  forest,  Sutherland,  there  are  perhaps  two  thousand 
red  deer,  &c.  and  about  two  hundred  fallow  deer  find  comfortable  shelter 
in  two  sequestered  islands  in  Lochlomond 

In  the  mountain  of  Arkel,  in  the  forest  of  Dirimore,  in  Sutherland, 
there  was  a  peculiar  sort  of  deer,  according  to  Sir  Robert  Gordon. 
They  bad  all  forked  tails,  three  inches  long,  whereby  they  were  easily 
known  from  any  others.  Bede  informs  us,  that  Ireland  was  celebrated 
for  stag-hunting,  but  deer  had  become  rare  in  that  country  about  the 
beginning  of  the  16th  century,  and  the  roebuck  is  said  to  have  been  un- 
known. |  There  is  a  Gaelic  saying,  S'fiach  aon  fhiadh 's  Mhona'  liath, 
a  dha  dheug  an  Gaig,  i.  e.  one  deer  in  the  gray  mountain  is  worth  a  dozen 
in  Gaig,  or  in  the  Grampians  in  general;  an  exaggeration,  certainly,  but 
meant  to  denote  the  superior  size  of  the  deer  found  in  the  gray  ridge. 

The  Caledonian  Ox  is  believed  to  have  been  peculiar  to  the  north. 
The  remains  of  this  animal  are  frequently  discovered  deep  underground, 
and  it  is  remarkable  that,  in  most  cases,  they  are  found  without  the  horns.  J 
The  skull  of  one  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  from  which  the 
animal  appears  nearly  allied  to  the  European  domestic  ox,  but  of  a  larg- 
er size.  At  Craven,  in  Yorkshire,  Chillingham  park,  in  Durham,  and 
Drumlanrig,  in  Scotland,  breeds  of  these  curious  animals  are  yet  pre- 
served.   Numbers  of  cattle  must  long  have  continued  to  live  in  a  state 

*  Agric.  Report.    They  were  subjected  to  a  particular.tythe. 
t  Riche's  Description  of  Ireland. 

t  Cut  off  for  drinking  cups,  or  musical  horns  IT  Csesar 


SHEEP.— GOATS.— HARE.— RABBITS.— POLECATS.— WEASLES.  275 


of  nature  among  the  inaccessible  woods  and  mountains.  Gildas  relates 
that  in  his  time  wild  bulls  were  caught  by  means  of  strong  nets. 

The  peculiar  sort  of  wild  cattle  which  the  Triads  relate  were  among 
the  first  living  creatures  in  this  island,  are  denominated  Yohan-banog, 
oxen  with  high  protuberances.  They  appear  to  have  been  buffaloes,  the 
Dame  of  which  in  Gaelic  is  bo-alluidh,  or  ferocious  ox.  Ceesar  says  that, 
in  Germany,  was  a  bull,  from  the  forehead  of  which  grew  a  straight  horn! 

Sheep,  Caoraich,  like  other  animals,  must  have  been  originally  wild, 
but  the  period  when  they  were  in  this  state  in  Scotland,  is  too  remote  to 
be  ascertained.  Donald  Munro  says,  that  m  the  Hebrides  he  saw  sheep 
*•  feeding  masterlesse,  pertayning  peculiarly  to  no  man;"  and  in  Orkney 
they  are  described  by  Brand  as  wild,  but  these  assertions  are  inconsid- 
erate, for  although  there  may  have  been  stray  flocks,  the  sheep  were 
formerly,  from  the  small  size  of  farms,  more  tame  than  they  are  now. 

Goats,  Gabhair,  have  remained  in  a  state  of  wildness  almost  until  our 
own  times. 

The  Hare  was  a  native  of  Britain,  and  one  of  those  animals  used  in 
divination.  The  religion  of  the  Britons  consequently  forbade  its  use 
as  food,*  and  it  was  only  occasionally  killed  for  the  purpose  of  drawing 
auguries. f  In  the  mountains  of  Sutherland,  and  other  elevated  situa- 
tions, is  found  an  Alpine  hare,  rather  less  than  the  common  sort,  a  beau- 
tiful creature,  white  as  snow  in  winter,  and  in  summer  marked  with  a 
few  dark  gray  hairs  on  the  back. 

Rabbits,  Coinean,  appear  to  have  been  introduced  to  Britain, J  prob- 
ably from  Celtiberia,  where  they  were  particularly  numerous. §  In  most 
of  the  Western  Isles  they  are  yet  unknown.  Those  of  the  smallest  size 
are  found  in  Isla;  the  largest  are  those  of  Man.|| 

Polecats,  Weasels,  and  other  animals  of  the  same  sort  common  to 
South  Britain,  are  to  be  found  in  Scotland.  Gordon  gives  a  list  of  a 
variety  of  these  creatures  that  were  numerous  in  Sutherland. 

A  species  of  amphibious  animal,  apparently  of  the  rat  kind,  called 
Beothach  an'  f  heoir,  is  found  in  the  eddies  of  the  higher  regions,  al- 
ways inhabiting  the  vicinity  of  the  green  patches  around  springs.  When 
a  horse  feeds  upon  the  grass  that  has  been  recently  cropped  by  this  an- 
imal, it  swells,  and  in  a  short  time  dies,  and  the  flesh  is  found  blue  as  if 
it  had  been  bruised  or  beaten.  I  believe  this  creature  has  not  been 
hitherto  described  by  naturalists. 

The  tradition,  of  St.  Patrick  having  by  his  blessing  saved  Ireland  from 
the  annoyance  of  noxious  reptiles,  is  well  known,  but  has  in  later  times 
l)een  found  to  be  not  strictly  according  to  fact.  Some  parts  of  Scotland, 
it  appears,  long  remained  free  from  rats.  Badenoch  is  said  to  have  been 
thus  fortunate,  and  in  Sutherland,  Sir  Robert  Gordon  says,  there  is  not 
a  rat  will  live,  and  if  any  are  brought  into  it  "  they  die  presently,  as 
soon  as  they  smell  the  air  of  the  country,  and,  which  is  strange,  there 


*  Csesar. 
§  Pliny. 


t  Dio. 

II  Pennant. 


t  Varro,  ill.  12.  ap.  Whitaker 


276 


HENS.— GEESE.— CAPERCAILZIE.— EAGLE. 


are  many  in  Caithness."  It  is  certain,  that  before  1798  they  were  not 
known  in  that  part  of  the  country,  but  a  ship  being  then  stranded  at 
Ceantradwell,  in  the  parish  of  Clyne,  a  few  rats  got  ashore  and  took 
refuge  in  a  mill,  where  they  increased,  and  soon  overspread  the  country. 
Birt  says  he  never  heard  of  rats  in  the  hills  but  at  Coul  na  kyle,  in 
Strathspey,  to  which  they  had  been  brought  in  1723  from  London,  and 
were  then  thought  a  presage  of  good  luck. 

The  Calf,  a  rock  near  the  Isle  of  Man,  was  formerly  celebrated  for 
affording  a  supply  of  young  puffins,  esteemed  a  great  delicacy;  but  a 
vessel  unfortunately  having  been  wrecked  on  it,  the  rats  that  got  ashore 
soon  exterminated  these  birds.  In  Man  itself  there  are  no  foxes,  moles, 
snakes,  or  toads;  and  magpies,  frogs,  partridges,  and  grouse  were  im- 
ported not  perhaps  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago.  A  country  may 
be  happy  in  not  possessing  those  noxious  and  unsightly  creatures  that 
annoy  the  inhabitants  of  other  lands;  but  no  calamity  has  happened  to 
any  place  in  these  islands  like  what  befell  an  unfortunate  city  of  Gaul, 
where  the  inhabitants  were  actually  forced  to  abandon  it  by  a  prodigious 
number  of  frogs.  Nor  have  the  number  of  rats  been  ever  so  formidable 
as  they  were  to  the  poor  German  baron,  whose  strong  isolated  tower- 
could  not  preserve  him  from  ultimately  perishing  by  these  disgusting 
animals. 

The  Britons  had  plenty  of  hens  and  geese.*  Religion  did  not  permit 
them  to  be  used  as  food,  but  the  people  kept  numbers  of  them  about  their 
dwellings.  If  their  eggs  were  also  prohibited,  the  Briton  must  have 
been  influenced  solely  by  superstition  in  keeping  them  around  him.  It 
does  not  appear  from  Pliny,  who  praises  the  German  geese,  that  these 
people  refused  to  eat  them.^  Those  in  the  Highlands  are  half  wild, 
occasionally  resorting  to  the  sea  and  lochs. 

The  Capercailzie,  or  cock  of  the  wood,  once  found  in  tolerable 
plenty  in  the  forests  of  Scotland,  is  now  only  seen  on  the  most  remote 
and  inaccessible  mountains,  and  so  rarely  is  it  met  with,  that  it  is  suppos- 
ed by  some  to  have  been  extinct  nearly  a  century.  It  is  larger  than  the 
black  cock,  which  is  now  also  very  rare.  The  Ptarmigan,  Grouse,  and 
other  game,  are  well  known  to  be  plentiful  on  the  moors  and  mountains 
of  Caledonia. 

The  Eagle,  lolar,  that  majestic  tenant  of  the  craggy  steeps,  has  been 
time  immemorial  the  emblem  of  strength  and  independence.  Its  pinions 
were  the  badges  of  Celtic  chieftainship,  and  were  esteemed  the  most 
honorable  reward  by  the  adventurous  sportsman.  This  noble  bird  is, 
however,  extremely  destructive  to  poultry,  and  even  the  young  lambs 
are  not  secure  from  its  audacious  attacks.  Two  eagles  had  built  their 
nest  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  gentleman's  house  in  Strathspey,  and  the 
quantities  of  game  which  they  collected  were  truly  astonishing.    On  the 

*  Geadh,  Gaelic,  a  goose  ;  Gwyz,  Welch. 

t  He  mentions  the  circumstance  of  a  flock  walking  all  the  way  from  the  territories 
of  the  Morini,  (Terouenne,)  to  Rome,  x.  22. 


DRUID-DUBH.— CNAG  —DOGS. 


277 


arrival  of  any  visiters,  however  unexpected,  the  gentleman  had  only  to 
despatch  some  one  to  the  eagles'  eyrie,  when  an  ample  supply  of  hares, 
rabbits,  muir  fowl,  partridges,  ptarmigans,  snipes,  &o.  were  speedily 
procured. 

The  Scots,  like  the  Germans,  are  fond  of  singing  birds,  and  do  not 
often  kill  them.  The  Nightingale,  which  has  now  forsaken  the  northern 
part  of  the  island,  is  supposed  to  have  once  frequented  the  woods  ©f 
Scotland.  Its  name  in  Gaelic  is  beautifully  expressive  of  the  sweet- 
ness of  its  song,  and  the  character  of  the  bird.  In  Ros  an  ceol,  the 
rose  music,  the  melody  is  put  for  the  melodist,  the  former  being  heard 
when  the  latter  is  unseen. 

The  Druid-dubh,  erroneously  called  Lon-dubh,  or  mountain  black- 
bird. I  believe  is  peculiar  to  the  Alpine  regions  of  the  Scottish  high- 
lands. It  resembles  in  every  thing,  except  its  color,  the  blue  bird  of 
the  Alps,  mentioned  by  Bellonius  and  others.  The  female  is  larger  than 
the  common  blackbird,  and  the  feathers  on  the  back  are  varied  by  a 
beautiful  dark  green  gloss.  The  cock  is  distinguished  by  a  snow  white 
collar,  or  ring  about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  broad  round  its  neck,  and 
above  all  birds  for  the  loudness  and  clearness  of  its  notes. 

The  Cnag,  or  Lair  fligh,  a  bird  like  a  parrot,  which  digs  its  nest  with 
its  beak  in  the  trunks  of  trees,  is  thought  pecuhar  to  the  county  of 
Sutherland. 

The  numerous  sea  birds  found  on  the  coasts  of  Scotland  and  the  isles, 
that  form  so  large  a  part  of  the  subsistence  of  the  inhabitants  of  some 
places,  are  caught  with  peculiar  dexterity,  and  by  the  most  adventurous 
methods,  practised  only  by  the  hardy  and  experienced  natives. 

The  Celtge  had  a  prejudice  against  fish,  which  probably  arose  from 
the  veneration  they  paid  to  the  waters.  The  Gael  retained  this  antipa- 
thy, and  notwithstanding  the  numerous  lochs,  rivers,  and  arms  of  the  sea 
which  intersect  their  country,  the  Highlanders  have  never  paid  much 
attention  to  angling  or  other  methods  of  catching  the  finny  tribe.  Many 
of  their  lakes  have  never  been  stocked. 

The  Gauls  employed  themselves  very  sedulously  in  hunting,  and 
practised  various  methods  to  make  sure  of  the  game.  The  want  of 
food  is  a  strong  incentive  to  the  pursuit,  which  is  not  always  one  (Jf 
pleasure,  and  however  much  attached  a  rude  and  spirited  people  may  be 
to  the  activity  and  enterprise  of  the  chase,  we  may  believe  with  Tacitus, 
that  during  peace  they  usually  resigned  themselves  to  sleep  and  repasts. 

Dogs  were  employed  by  the  Gauls  both  in  hunting  and  in  war.  The 
Celtic  dogs  were  excellent  in  the  chase,  and  those  of  the  Britons  were 
superior  to  all  others.  They  were  so  much  esteemed,  that  great  num- 
bers were  exported  not  only  to  Gaul  but  to  Italy,  being  highly  valued  by 
the  Romans.*  They  excelled  in  swiftness,  a  quality  for  which  all  Celtic 
dogs  were  celebrated. f  Those  of  the  Belgse,  Segusi,  and  Sicambri, 
were  next  in  value  to  the  British. J 

*  Strabo,  iv.  p.  200.  t  Arrian,  f.  121.  t  Montfaucon. 


278 


DOGS. 


Vossius  says,  that  the  Latin  catulus,  a  little  dog,  is  a  Gallic  word.  Lew 
is,  in  his  History  of  Britain,  derives  the  Roman  cynegii,  dog  keepers, 
from  the  British  ci,  a  dog.    Ovid  uses  gallicus  canis  for  a  greyhound, 
and  those  now  called  beagles  were  denominated  agassoeos  and  vertragos. 

The  Scots  dogs  were  celebrated  all  over  Europe.*  Their  use  in 
hunting  rendered  them  inestimable  to  the  tribes  of  Caledonia,  and  pro- 
duced a  strong  attachment  between  the  hunter  and  his  faithful  companion, 
who  was  believed  to  accompany  his  master  to  the  "  airy  hall"  of  his  rest. 
A  beautiful  lamentation  of  Umad,  an  aged  warrior,  over  gorban,  his 
hound,  is  preserved  in  the  poem  of  "  Manos,"  and  it  shows,  in  a  strong 
light,  the  love  of  the  Highlanders  for  hunting,  and  the  regard  which  they 
have  for  their  dogs,  that  this  ancient  composition  is  at  the  present  day 
the  most  universally  known  among  them.y 

The  docility  and  attachment  of  the  dog  may  have  arisen  from  sharing 
its  master's  confidence,  and  receiving  his  continued  attentions.  Buffon 
ascribes  these  qualities  in  the  Hottentot  oxen  to  their  enjoying  the  same 
bed  and  board  as  their  owner,  and  experiencing  his  daily  care.  The 
Caledonians  maintained  great  numbers  of  dogs,  and  the  names  of  some 
of  the  most  famous  are  still  preserved.  Bran  and  Sgeolan  were  favorites 
of  Fingal,  and  in  Glenlyon,  in  Perthshire,  is  pointed  out  his  conabhacan, 
or  stake,  to  which  his  hounds  were  fastened.  In  the  Isle  of  Sky  is  a 
stone  which  was  used  by  Cathullin  for  the  same  purpose.  The  Irish 
greyhounds  that  were  used  for  hunting  the  wolf,  are  described  as  having 
been  bigger  of  limb  and  bone  than  a  colt.  J 

The  shepherd's  dog  I  believe  is  peculiar  to  Scotland.  The  instinct  of 
this  animal  is  wonderful,  and  its  services  incalculable.  It  will  bring  the 
most  numerous  flock  of  sheep  from  the  distant  mountains,  without  other 
assistance,  and  without  missing  a  single  individual! 

It  is  probable  the  Celts  used  horses  in  the  chase,  after  they  had  been 
domesticated,  but  they  may  have  often  amused  themselves  in  hunting  the 
animals  themselves;  for  in  the  northern  countries  of  Europe  they  were 
formerly  wild,  and  roamed  about  in  large  troops.  Even  in  after  ages 
these  animals  must  have  continued  to  enjoy  a  freedom  approximating 
to  wildness.  This  is  still  nearly  the  case  in  some  parts  of  Scotland, 
and  in  the  Isles  of  Orkney  and  Shetland.  All,  a  Gaelic  term  for  a 
horse,  is  long  gone  into  disuse,  and  is  only  preserved  in  cab-all,  a  tamed 
horse  or  mare. 

Besides  the  assistance  of  horses  and  dogs,  the  Gauls  endeavored  to 
secure  their  prey  by  assisting  the  effect  of  their  weapons  with  poison. 
With  one  sort,  which  Pliny  calls  venenum  cervarium,  they  rubbed  their 
arrows  in  stag  hunting;  limeum,  or  hartsbane,  was  used  in  the  same 
way.§  They  also  dipped  the  points  of  their  weapons  in  the  juice  of  hel- 
lebore, but  in  thus  studying  to  render  their  shot  effectual,  they  took  care 


*  Syraachus,  ep.  ii.  77.  Ant.  Pagi. 
t  Campion. 


t  Smith's  Gallic  Ant.  p.  255. 
§  Lib.  xxvii.  11. 


HUNTING. 


279 


that  the  game  should  not  be  injured.  They  immediately  cut  the  flesh 
from  around  tlie  wound,  and  affirmed  not  only  that  the  venison  was 
uninjured,  but  that  it  was  much  improved,  being  rendered  very  tender.* 
An  a^itique  sculpture,  representing  a  boar  liunt,  was  discovered  in  the 
province  of  Narbonne.|  The  animal  appears  of  a  very  large  size,  and 
is  attacked  by  iwo  hunters  on  foot,  each  armed  with  a  dart,  or  venabu- 
lum,  about  3J  feet  long,  which  is  held  in  the  right  hand,  while  in  the 
left  th^y  carry  a  piece  of  cloth,  which  one  of  them  is  about  to  thrust  down 
the  throat  of  the  animal,  as  it  rushes  open  mouthed  on  its  assailants. 
This  torms  the  subject  of  the  vignette  to  this  Chapter,  only  it  will  be 
observed,  that  one  of  the  figures,  who  is  in  the  same  attitude,  is  omitted. 
In  the  portfeuille  of  M.  Lenoir,  is  a  representation  of  a  similar  attack, 
by  a  single  hunter,  who,  instead  of  the  cloth,  wraps  his  hand  in  his 
sagum. 

The  hunting  of  the  boar  was  particularly  famous  among  the  ancient 
Gael.  This  perhaps  arose  from  the  peculiar  address  that  was  requisite 
in  attacking  so  furious  an  animal;  for  we  learn  from  Ossian,  and  other 
bards,  that  a  warrior  esteemed  himself  highly  upon  his  address  in  spear- 
ing the  boar,  and  one  of  their  heads  is  represented  to  have  been  sym- 
bolical of  particular  prowess  in  hunting,  being  a  trophy  obtained  at 
considerable  peril. 

Hunting,  among  the  ancient  Scots,  was  an  employment  of  the  great- 
est importance.  In  the  reign  of  Paganism  it  was  connected  with  their 
mythology,  for  they  believed  that  in  the  clouds  they  should  enjoy,  as  a 
reward  for  their  bravery,  the  pleasures  of  the  chase  in  higher  perfection 
than  the  earth  could  afford.  According  to  Arrian,  the  Celts  sacrificed 
to  Diana  the  huntress.  Whether  the  Gael  invoked  Grianus  or  Baal  to 
prosper  their  hunting  expeditions,  we  are  not  certain,  but  to  be  accom- 
plished in  this  exercise  was  the  sure,  the  sole  warrant  for  future  renown 
and  ability  to  govern.  A  young  chief  was  obliged  to  evince  his  talent 
for  conducting  military  operations  by  the  leading  of  a  great  hunting 
incursion,  a  practice  that  long  survived  the  last  of  the  Fions.J  The 
magnitude  of  the  Highland  expeditions  against  the  wild  tenants  of  the 
dense  forests  and  rugged  mountains  was  astonishing.  Fingal,  in  an 
ancient  poem,  is  said  to  have  had  1000  hunters:  succeeding  chiefs  have 
been  accompanied  by  even  a  more  numerous  retinue.  The  heads  of 
various  and  remote  clans  were  accustomed  to  xjneet  at  certain  times  and 
in  appointed  places,  attended  by  numbers  of  their  followers,  and  com- 
menced a  rigorous  campaign  against  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  forest, 
which  never  failed  in  producing  a  most  abundant  slaughter:  but  fond  as 
the  Highlanders  were  of  the  chase,  and  useful  as  it  was  to  their  subsis- 
tence, they  did  not  pursue  it  to  the  neglect  of  more  important  avocations. 
"  Though  hunting,"  says  their  proverb,  "  be  a  good  help,  yet  the  chase 
is  but  a  poor  livelihood."    The  great  hunting  matches  were  the  means 


Pliny,  XXV. 


t  Montfaucon. 


t  Martin. 


280 


HUNTING. 


of  preserving  a  social  intercourse  between  tribes  who  lived  far  distant 
from  each  other.  It  was  a  means  also  of  bringing  the  chiefs  and  princi- 
pal men  of  the  country  together,  and  enabled  them  to  adjust  differences, 
settle  future  proceedings,  &.c.  They  were  at  these  meetings  also  able  to 
arrange  many  things  among  themselves,  which  were  of  much  more  con- 
sequence than  the  ostensible  object  for  which  they  were  collected.  A 
general  hunting  match  has  been  the  method  by  which  the  greatest  en- 
terprises have  been  suggested  and  matured,  without  a  suspicion  being 
excited  beyond  the  mountains. 

Huntings  were  often  given  in  compliment  to  the  visits  of  friends,  and 
the  vassals  were  summoned  in  suitable  numbers.  The  chief  could,  of 
course,  muster  his  clan  by  hereditary  right,  and  they  were  besides  spe- 
cially bound  to  hunt  with  their  superior,  the  Highland  servitudes  being 
hunting,  hosting,  watching,  and  warding.  The  gallantry  of  the  ancient 
Caledonians  led  them  to  honor  a  stranger  with  the  danger  of  the  chase; 
in  other  words,  he  was  allowed  to  expose  himself  to  the  greatest  hazard, 
and  hence  have  the  opportunity  of  gaining  the  most  renown. 

By  the  Welsh  laws  of  Griffith  ap  Conan,  hunting  was  divided  into 
three  parts;  helfa  holet,  hunting  for  the  cry;  helfa  cyfarthfa,  hunting  for 
the  bay,  and  helfa  cyfFredyn,  common  hunting,  or  that  by  which  a  person 
coming  up  to  another  who  had  killed  an  animal,  could  challenge  the  half* 
The  laws  of  the  chase,  according  to  Scotish  Chronicles,  were  settled 
by  Dornadilla,  one  of  the  kings  or  chiefs  of  the  fabulous  period  of  na- 
tional history.  Without  any  such  intimation  we  are  sufficiently  convinc- 
ed of  the  importance  in  which  it  was  held  by  the  Celts.  Many  supersti- 
tions were  connected  with  hunting,  from  the  belief  that  it  formed  part  of 
the  amusements  of  the  blessed  after  death,  and  some  curious  fragments 
of  bardic  composition  exist  on  the  subject.  In  Scot's  discovery  of  witch- 
craft, it  is  recommended  to  prevent  hunters  or  their  dogs  from  being 
ensnared  by  this  foul  art,  that  an  oaken  branch  should  be  cleaved,  over 
which  they  should  all  pass.  It  was  a  most  ancient  belief  that  the  forest 
was  infested  with  supernatural  beings,  who  amused  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  mankind. 

A  certain  late  writer  has  said  that  the  Highlanders  are  naturally  good 
marksmen.  Their  dexterity  is  produced  solely  by  attention  and  prac- 
tice; which  has  long  rendered  them  famous  for  taking  sure  and  steady 
aim.  Nearly  200  years  ago  they  are  thus  noticed:  "  In  the  first  place 
stood  Highlanders,  commonly  called  Redshankes,  with  their  plaides  cast 
over  their  shoulders,  having  every  one  his  bowe  and  arrows,  with  a 
broad  slycing  sworde  by  his  syde:  these  are  so  good  markesmen,  that 
they  will  kill  a  deere  in  his  speede,  it  being  the  chiefest  part  of  their  liv- 
mg,  selling  the  skins  by  great  quantities,  and  feeding  on  the  flesh."  | 

A  curious  instance  of  the  nicety  of  shooting  occurred  about  seventy 
years  ago.  A  poacher  had  long  pursued  his  mode  of  life  undetected, 
although  the  destruction  of  game  was  very  great,  and  his  habits  well 


*  Lewis. 


t  His  Majestie's  passing  through  the  Scots'  armie,  1641. 


HUNTING. 


281 


known;  but  this  veteran  protracted  his  fate  by  using  the  weapon  of  his 
ancestors,  the  noiseless  bow  and  arrow,  and  he  was  perhaps  the  last  who 
used  it  for  the  purpose.  After  his  capture  he  vaunted  of  his  skill  in 
archery,  and  the  Duke  of  Athol,  pointing  to  a  stag,  desired  him  to  shoot 
it  through  the  off  eye;  on  which  the  Highlander  giving  a  particular  whis- 
tle, the  animal  looked  round,  and  immediately  received  an  arrow  in  the 
intended  spot. 

Some  interesting  descriptions  of  Celtic  huntings  have  been  preserved. 
In  the  poem  of"  Fingal,"  three  thousand  hounds,  that  excelled  in  fleet- 
ness  as  in  fierceness,  were  let  loose,  and  each  is  represented  as  killing 
two  deer;  rather  an  exaggerated  number,  one  should  think.  In  the 
poem  of  "  Dermid"  is  a  paragraph,  describing  the  manner  of  hunting, 
which  we  regret  has  not  been  translated.  *  Taylor,  the  water  poet,  cel- 
ebrates this  noble  sport  of  the  Highlanders  in  energetic  verse. 

"  Through  heather,  moss,  'mong  frogs  and  bogs  and  fogs, 
'Mongst  craggy  cliffs,  and  thunder-battered  hills, 
Hares,  hinds,  bucks,  roes,  are  chased  by  men  and  dogs, 
Where  two  hours'  hunting  fourscore  fat  deer  kills. 
Lowland,  your  sports  are  low  as  is  your  seat : 
The  Highland  games  and  minds  are  high  and  great." 

The  Celtae,  we  are  informed  by  Pausanias,  surrounded  plains  and 
meuntains  with  their  toils.  In  like  manner,  the  Highlanders  encom- 
passed a  hill  or  large  tract  of  country,  and,  advancing  on  all  sides  with 
"  hideous  yells,"  they  enclosed  the  animals  in  a  small  space,  and  cut 
them  down  with  their  broadswords  so  dexterously,  as  not  to  injure  the 
hide.  In  other  cases  they  arranged  themselves,  part  on  the  plain,  and 
the  others  along  the  declivity  of  the  mountains,  and  with  loud  cries  as 
they  advanced  drove  the  herds  of  deer  and  other  animals  towards  the 
chief  and  his  party,  who  were  ready  in  a  desirable  spot  to  enjoy  the 
sport.  This  resembles  the  Spanish  batidas,  where  some  hundred  people 
collect  and  drive  the  game  through  a  defile,  where  the  king,  with  his 
attendants,  in  an  arbor  or  hut,  constructed  of  boughs,  slaughter  the 
animals  as  they  pass. 

King  James  V.,  having,  in  1528,  "  made  proclamation  to  all  lords, 
barons,  gentlemen,  landward-men,  and  freeholders,  to  compear  at  Edin- 
burgh, with  a  month's  victual,  to  pass  with  the  king  to  dantonthe  thieves 
of  Teviotdale,  &c. ;  and  also  warned  all  gentlemen  that  had  good  dogs 
to  bring  them,  that  he  might  hunt  in  the  said  country;  the  Earl  of  Argyle, 
the  Earl  of  Huntley,  the  Earl  of  Atholl,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  High- 
lands, did,  and  brought  their  hounds  with  them,  to  hunt  with  the  king.' 
His  Majesty,  therefore,  "  past  out  of  Edinburgh  to  the  hunting  with 
12,000  men,  and  hounded  and  hawked  all  the  country  and  bounds, "and 
killed,  as  Lindsay  heard,  eighteen  score  harts.  Next  summer  he  went  to 
hunt  in  Athol,  accompanied  by  Queen  Margaret  and  the  Pope's  ambas- 
sador, where  he  remained  three  days  most  nobly  entertained  by  the  Earl, 

*  Smith's  Gallic  Antiquities,  p.  189. 

36 


282 


ROYAL  HUNTING. 


and  killed  "thirty  score  of  hart  and  hynd,  with  other  small  beasts,  as 
roe,  and  roebuck,  wolf  and  fox,  and  wild  cats."* 

This  last  expedition  was  accompanied  with  such  extraordinary  circum- 
stances, that  Lindsay's  account  of  it  must  be  interesting.  "  The  Earl 
of  Athole,  hearing  of  tha  king's  coming,  made  great  provision  for  him 
in  all  things  pertaining  to  a  prince,  that  he  was  as  well  served  and  eased 
with  all  things  necessary  to  his  estate  as  he  had  been  in  his  own  palace 
of  Edinburgh.  For,  I  heard  say,  this  noble  Earl  gart  make  a  curious 
palace  to  the  king,  his  mother,  and  the  ambassador,  where  they  were  so 
honorably  lodged  as  they  had  been  in  England,  France,  Italy,  or  Spain, 
concerning  the  time  and  equivalent  for  their  hunting  and  pastime;  which 
was  builded  in  midst  of  a  fair  meadow,  a  palace  of  green, timber,  wound 
with  green  birks  that  were  green  both  under  and  above,  which  was  fash- 
ioned in  four  quarters,  and  in  every  quarter  and  nuke  thereof  a  great 
round,  as  it  had  been  a  blockhouse,  which  was  lofted  and  geisted  the 
space  of  three  house  height;  the  floors  laid  with  green  scharets  and 
spreats,  medwarts,  and  flowers,  that  no  man  knew  whereon  he  zied,  but 
as  he  had  been  in  a  garden.  Further,  there  were  two  great  rounds  on  ilk 
side  of  the  gate,  and  a  great  portculleis  of  tree,  falling  down  with  the 
manner  of  a  barrace,  with  a  drawbridge,  and  a  great  stank  of  water  of 
sixteen  foot  deep,  and  thirty  foot  of  breadth.  And  also  this  palace  with- 
in was  hung  with  fine  tapestry  and  arrasses  of  silk,  and  lighted  with  fine 
glass  windows  in  all  airths;  that  this  palace  was  as  pleasantly  decored 
with  all  necessaries  pertaining  to  a  prince  as  it  had  been  his  own  royal 
palace  at  home.  Further,  this  Earl  gart  make  such  provision  for  the 
king  and  his  mother,  that  they  had  all  manner  of  meats,  drinks,  and  del- 
icates  that  were  to  be  gotten,  at  that  time,  in  all  Scotland,  either  in 
burgh  or  land,  viz.  all  kind  of  drink,  as  ale,  beer,  wine,  &c. ;  of  meats, 
with  flesshes,  8lc.  ;  and  also  the  stanks  that  were  round  about  the  palace, 
were  full  of  all  delicate  fishes,  as  salmonds,  trouts,  pearches,  pikes,  eels, 
and  all  other  kind  of  delicate  fishes  that  could  be  gotten  in  fresh  waters, 
and  all  ready  for  the  banquet.  Syne  were  there  proper  stewards,  &.C.; 
and  the  halls  and  chambers  were  prepared  with  costly  bedding,  vessel, 
,  and  napry,  according  for  a  king;  so  that  he  wanted  none  of  his  orders 
more  than  he  had  been  at  home.  The  king  remained  in  this  wilderness 
at  the  hunting  the  space  of  three  days  and  three  nights,  and  his  compa- 
ny, as  I  have  shown.  I  heard  men  say  it  cost  the  Earl  of  Athole  every 
day  in  expences  a  thousand  pounds."  All  this  sumptuous  edifice  was 
purposely  consumed  by  fire  on  the  king's  departure! 

Another  old  writer  thus  describes  a  great  Highland  hunting  match. 

*'  In  the  year  1563,  the  Earl  of  Athol,  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal, 
had,  with  much  trouble  and  vast  expense,  a  hunting  match  for  the  en- 
tertainment of  our  most  illustrious  and  most  gracious  queen.  Our  people 
call  this  a  royal  hunting.  I  was  then  a  young  man,  and  was  present  on 
that  occasion.  Two  thousand  Highlanders,  or  wild  Scotch  as  you  call 
*  Lindsay  of  Pitscottie,  Hist  of  Scotland,  225,  ed.  1778. 


HUNTING  MATCH. 


2a3 


them  here,  were  employed  to  drive  to  the  hunting  ground  all  the  deer 
from  the  woods  and  hills  of  Atholl,  Badenoch,  Mar,  Murray,  and  the 
countries  about.  As  these  Highlanders  use  a  light  dress,  and  arc  very 
swift  of  foot,  they  went  up  and  down  so  nimbly,  that  in  less  than  two  months' 
time  they  brought  together  2000  red  deer,  besides  roes  and  fallow  deer. 
The  queen,  the  great  men,  and  others,  were  in  a  glen,  when  all  the  deer 
were  brought  before  them.  Believe  me,  the  whole  body  of  them  moved 
forward  in  something  like  battle  order.  This  sight  still  strikes  me,  and 
ever  will,  for  they  had  a  leader  whom  they  followed  close  wherever  he  mov- 
ed. This  leader  was  a  very  fine  stag,  with  a  very  high  head.  The  sight 
delighted  the  queen  very  much,  but  she  soon  had  occasion  for  fear.  Upon 
the  Earl's  (who  had  been  accustomed  to  such  sights)  addressing  her 
thus,  '  Do  you  observe  that  stag  who  is  foremost  of  the  herd?  There  is 
danger  from  that  stag,  for  if  either  fear  or  rage  should  force  him  from  the 
ridge  of  that  hill,  let  every  one  look  to  himself,  for  none  of  us  will  be  out 
of  the  way  of  harm;  for  the  rest  will  follow  this  one,  and,  having  thrown 
us  under  foot,  they  will  open  a  passage  to  this  hill  behind  us.'  What 
happened  a  moment  after  confirmed  this  opinion:  for  the  queen  ordered 
one  of  the  best  dogs  to  be  let  loose  on  one  of  the  deer:  this  the  dog  pur- 
sues, the  leading  stag  was  frighted,  he  flies  by  the  same  way  he  had 
come  there,  the  rest  rush  after  him,  and  break  out  where  the  thickest 
body  of  the  Highlanders  was.  They  had  nothing  for  it  but  to  throw 
themselves  flat  on  the  heath,  and  to  allow  the  deer  to  pass  over  them. 
It  was  told  the  queen  that  several  of  the  Highlanders  had  been  wound- 
ed, and  that  two  or  three  had  been  killed  outright;  and  the  whole  body 
had  got  off,  had  not  the  Highlanders,  by  their  skill  in  hunting,  fallen 
upon  a  stratagem  to  cut  off  the  rear  from  the  main  body.  It  was  of 
those  that  had  been  separated  that  the  queen's  dogs  and  those  of  the 
nobility  made  slaughter.  There  were  killed  that  day  360  deer,  with 
5  wolves,  and  some  roes."* 

When  a  single  deer  was  wanted,  the  gamekeeper  and  a  few  assistants 
went  to  the  hills,  with  a  little  oatmeal  or  other  provision,  and  lay  in  wait 
for  their  prey,  sometimes  for  several  days  and  nights  together.  Stalking 
is  the  term  applied  to  the  pursuit  of  deer  by  individuals,  and,  as  the  ani- 
mals are  shy,  incredible  patience  and  exertion  are  necessary  to  secure 
the  game.  A  deer  stalker  has  walked  two  miles  in  deep  water,  and 
crawled  a  considerable  distance  on  his  belly,  in  order  to  approach  the 
animals  unobserved. 

The  forester  was  an  important  member  of  the  clan,  and  enjoyed  several 
perquisites.  On  the  return  of  a  young  chief  from  his  first  public  hunting 
all  his  arms,  clothing,  and  other  articles  were,  by  immemorial  custom, 
given  to  the  forester.  Sir  Robert  Burnet,  of  Crathes,  in  Aberdeenshire, 
bears  a  Highlander  as  one  of  the  supporters  to  his  arms,  his  ancestors 
having  been  the  king's  foresters  in  the  north. 

*  Barclay's  contra  Monarchomacus. 


284 


HAWKING. 


It  appears  that  hawking  was  a  diversion  of  the  ancient  Britons. 
Helta,  hunting,  signifies  also  hawking,*  and  Ossian  mentions  "  a  hun- 
dred hawks  with  fluttering  wing."  By  the  laws  of  Hwyel  Dha,  the 
master  of  the  hawks  enjoyed  his  lands  free,  he  sat  the  fourth  man  from 
the  king,  slept  in  the  barn,  and  had  a  hand  breadth  of  wax  candle  to 
feed  his  birds  and  light  him  to  bed.  He  received  a  dried  sheep,  and  was 
served  with  drink  suflicient  only  to  quench  his  thirst,  lest  his  charge 
should  be  neglected.  The  hearts  and  lungs  of  all  animals  killed  in  the 
royal  kitchen  were  allowed  him  to  feed  his  birds,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
have  his  horse  always  ready. 

Rederch,  King  of  the  Strathclyde  Welsh,  included  hawks,  dogs,  and 
swift  hunters  among  his  most  valuable  presents. 

*  Lewis's  Hist.  Pliny  describes  hawking  as  practised  by  the  Thracians,  among 
T\'hom  the  hawk  and  the  hunter  shared  the  prey. — Lib.  x.  c.  8. 


CHAPTER  X. 


OF  THE  PASTORAL  STATE  AND  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


The  cattle  of  the  Gauls  who  were  accounted  affluent,  were  their  chief 
riches,  and  some  of  them,  according  to  Cossar,  lived  entirely  on  their 
flesh  and  milk.  The  Celtic  race  were  much  attached  to  the  pastoral  life, 
for  its  freedom  was  suited  to  their  state  of  refinement,  and  congenial  to 
their  independent  spirit.  The  inhabitants  of  Britain,  at  the  period  of  the 
first  Roman  descent,  were  for  the  most  part  in  the  pastoral  state  of  soci- 
ety, and  long  after  this  epoch  many  of  the  tribes,  like  their  remote  an- 
cestors, continued  to  pay  almost  exclusive  attention  to  their  flocks,  con- 
temning the  servile  and  less  advantageous  task  of  cultivating  the  soil. 
Many  parts  of  the  island  are  adapted  for  grazing  only,  and  those  who 
inhabit  the  mountainous  districts  must  continue  to  depend  for  subsistence 
on  the  produce  of  their  herds.  Although  the  wealth  of  the  Highlands 
has  always  consisted  of  cattle,  the  poets  have  not  indulged  in  rapturous 
encomiums  on  the  shepherd  state,  for  this  reason,  that  the  education  of 
the  men  was  entirely  military,  the  care  of  the  flocks  being  left  to  the 
v/omen  and  youth.  Caesar  remarks  the  great  numbers  of  cattle  which 
were  reared  in  Britain,  and  Solinus  avers  that  Ireland  was  overstocked 
with  them,*  In  Germany  they  were  no  less  abundant,  the  inhabitants 
taking  great  delight  in  the  number  of  their  flocks,  which,  according  to 
Tacitus,  formed  their  only  wealth.  The  animals  were,  however,  but  of 
small  size,  for  they  appear  to  have  been  indifferent  to  their  appearance; 


*  C.  35. 


286 


CATTLE.— GOATS. 


whereas  the  Gauls  took  so  much  delight  in  them,  that  they  thought  they 
could  never  pay  too  dear  for  a  beautiful  ox.* 

In  the  time  of  Severus,  the  people  beyond  Adrian's  wall  lived  chiefly 
on  the  flesh  and  milk  of  their  flocks,  with  what  they  procured  by  hunting. 
It  is  certain  that  at  this  early  period  the  rude  tribes  of  the  north  had  do- 
mesticated numerous  herds,  it  being  customary  for  them  to  place  cattle 
and  sheep  in  the  way  of  the  Roman  armies,  to  induce  parties  to  straggle 
from  the  main  body,  and  fall  into  their  ambuscades.|  A  quarrel,  con- 
cerning the  bull  of  the  heath  of  Golbun,  forms  the  subject  of  an  episode 
in  the  poem  of  "  Fingal."  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Saxons,  North 
Wales  is  said  to  have  been  chiefly  appropriated  for  the  pasturage  of  royal 
cattle,  three  herds  of  which  consisted  of  21,000  head.  J  The  cattle  and 
sheep  of  Scotland  were  anciently  its  chief  resource;  the  numbers  now 
raised  for  the  supply  of  the  EngHsh  markets  are  immense,  and  it  may 
with  perfect  truth  be  said  of  many  of  the  Welsh,  Irish,  and  Highland 
Scots,  as  it  was  of  the  ancient  Gauls,  that  cattle  are  their  only  riches. 

The  wild  animals  which  inhabited  the  woods  of  Britain  and  Gaul,  fur- 
nishing subsistence  to  the  Celtic  huntsmen,  have  been  already  described. 
The  domestic  animals  can  be  here  only  briefly  noticed.  Those  who  are 
desirous  of  further  information  concerning  the  various  improved  breeds 
in  the  northern  division  of  Britain,  are  referred  to  the  Agricultural  Re- 
ports, Transactions  of  the  Highland  Societies,  the  Statistical  Returns, 
and  other  similar  works,  for  more  detailed  accounts. 

There  exists  a  belief  that  the  inhabitants  of  Scotland  had  anciently 
domesticated  a  species  of  deer,  and  the  tradition  has  received  something 
like  confirmation.  A  communication  from  H.  Home  Drummond,  Esq., 
to  the  Wernerian  Society  of  Edinburgh,  describes  a  large  stag's  horn 
that  was  discovered  in  the  great  Blair  Drummond  moss,  which  had  a 
piece  of  wood  fitted  into  a  circular  perforation. §  It  is  not  improbable 
that  these  animals  were  tamed,  as  the  rein-deer  are  at  present  among  the 
Laplanders. 

The  Caledonian  Ox  was  considerably  larger  than  that  of  the  present 
day,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  skulls,  which  are  frequently  discovered  at 
great  depths.  At  Drumlanrig,  a  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  herds 
of  wild  cattle  of  a  white  color  are  still  preserved.  The  Gaelic  bual,  a 
buffalo,  or  any  wild  horned  beast,  seems  bu-all,  or  bo  alluidh,  a  wild  ox. 
The  breeds  of  Highland  cattle  and  their  qualities  are  well  known. 

The  Goat,  so  useful  a  breed  of  animals  in  a  mountainous  country,  is 
now  much  reduced  in  Scotland.  In  Inverness,  Sutherland,  Caithness, 
and  other  northern  counties,  there  were  formerly  numerous  flocks  of 
goats,  every  farmer,  about  fifty  years  ago,  having  from  twenty  to  one 
hundred.  They  wandered  almost  in  unrestrained  wildness  in  the  moun- 
tains, and  their  flesh  was  good  meat,  while,  during  summer,  cheese  was 
made  either  of  the  milk  alone,  or  of  a  mixture  with  that  of  the  cow. 


*  Bello  Gall.  t  Dio. 

§  Letter  read  August,  1825. 


t  Triad,  85. 


SHEEP. 


287 


Their  skins  were  an  article  of  very  early  export,  and  in  recent  times 
could  always  fetch  a  shilling  from  the  travelling  chapman.  In  the  Isles, 
a  late  visiter  says  they  have  almost  disappeared.  The  goat  is  peculiarly 
fitted  for  a  rugged  country,  for  it  can  pick  up  subsistence  in  places  to 
which  the  more  timid  sheep  cannot  venture,  and  is  able  to  defend  itself 
affainst  the  fox,  so  destructive  to  the  latter.  It  is  curious  to  find  that  the 
deer  will  pasture  freely  with  goats,  but  evince  a  strong  dislike  to  sheep 
Sheep  formed  a  considerable  part  of  the  pastoral  riches  of  the  Celts. 
It  would  appear  from  what  has  been  before  observed,  if  we  are  to  receive 
the  doubtful  testimony  of  D.  Munro,  that  many  were  in  a  state  of  nature 
in  his  time,  as  they  are  said  to  have  also  continued  until  lately  in  the  re- 
mote islands  of  Orkney  and  Shetland.  There  appears,  however,  in  these 
assertions,  an  ignorance  of  grazing  and  sheep  farming.  Every  mountain 
may  be  now  found  covered  with  sheep  wild  as  deer,  and  to  all  appear- 
ance masterless,  and  where  there  were  no  foxes  or  other  vermin  to  de- 
stroy them,  the  same  w^is  formerly  observable;  but  each  person's  prop- 
erty was  no  doubt  distinguished  by  the  lug  mark,  or  some  other  token. 
The  flocks  that  range  in  freedom  on  the  muirs,  are  collected  four  or  five 
times  in  the  course  of  the  summer  and  autumn,  and  those  gatherings 
exactly  resemble  the  ancient  hunt.  The  grazing  range  is  surrounded 
silently,  as*  early  in  the  day  as  possible,  when  a  simultaneous  cry  of  men 
and  barking  of  dogs  are  set  up,  by  which  the  timid  animals  are  roused 
from  all  their  haunts,  and  brought  together  in  a  narrow  pass,  where  the 

k flank  or  fold  is  erected.  The  native  sheep  were  very  different  from  the 
modern  breed.  The  fleece  was  a  sort  of  down,  mixed  with  straight  hairs 
of  some  length;  the  tail  was  short,  slender,  and  tapering,  and  was  thinly 
covered  with  long  silvery  hairs.  They  were  remarkably  tame,  and  very 
delicate,  probably  from  the  once  invariable  practice  of  housing  them. 
The  breeds  of  sheep  have  been  so  often  crossed  and  intermixed,  that  the 
genuine  native  animal  can  scarcely  be  found.  The  original  stock  were 
small,  and  dun  colored,  particularly  in  the  face,  but,  notwithstanding 
their  hardiness,  and  some  good  qualities,  few  now  remain.  It  appears 
from  Cambrensis,  that  in  Ireland  the  sheep  were  chiefly  black.  Some 
of  the  old  Scots'  sheep  still  exist  in  Galloway,  and  a  few  may  be  found  in 
different  parts  of  the  Highlands.  A  recent  traveller  seems  to  think 
them  confined  to  the  remote  island  of  Hirta,  or  St.  Kilda,*  but  they  ap- 
pear also  to  be  found  in  Orkney  and  Shetland,  and  are  supposed  to  have 
been  originally  brought  from  Norway.  They  were  easily  fed,  their  mut- 
ton was  delicious,  and  their  fleeces  were  soft,  to  procure  which  it  has 
been  said  that  the  wool  was  pulled  ofl^,  a  practice,  Avhich,  there  is  reason 
to  believe,  did  not,  at  least  within-  traditional  knowledge,  prevail  among 
the  Highlanders,  who  have  an  appropriate  name  for  sheep  shears,  but 
none  for  common  scissors.  It  is  not  long  since  both  sheep  and  goats 
were  committed  to  the  entire  management,  and  hence  have  been  thought 

*  M'Culloch.  An  epithet  by  which  this  island  is  designated  :  Irt  na'n  caoiraieb 
feann,  Hirta  of  the  hairy  sheep,  is  thought  to  indicate  a  peculiar  breed. 


288 


SHEEP.-SWINE. 


the  exclusive  property  of  the  wife,  being  considered  beneath  the  atten- 
tion of  a  man,  and  so  strong  was  this  feeling  that  no  man  would  con- 
descend to  assist  at  the  »heep-shearing.  The  Highlands  are  admira- 
bly adapted  for  rearing  sheep,  the  fragrant  herbage  of  the  hills  producing 
most  delicious  mutton.  Many  ages  since,  the  inhabitants  of  various 
parts  pursued  with  success  the  improvement  of  their  stock.  From  before 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  "all  the  districts  of  the  shire  of 
Aberdeen  were  distinguished  for  numerous  flocks  of  sheep,  which 
yielded  fleeces  of  the  finest  wool."*  Many  Highland  proprietors  have 
of  late  turned  their  almost  exclusive  attention  to  sheep  farming,  and  have 
followed  their  object  with  so  much  zeal,  that  whole  districts  have  been 
depopulated,  that  they  might  be  turned  into  extensive  sheep  walks! 
How  far  this  may  be  ultimately  of  advantage  to  proprietors  it  is  not  easy 
to  foresee,  but  its  policy  is  certainly  very  objectionable.  To  force  so  great 
a  number  of  the  inhabitants  to  emigrate,  and  thus  deprive  the  country  of 
the  services  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  best  part  of  the  peasantry,  is 
surely  a  serious  national  evil.  Regiments  can  no  longer  be  raised,  in 
case  of  need,  in  those  places  where  now  are  only  to  be  seen  the  numer- 
ous flocks  of  the  solitary  shepherd.  The  piobrach  may  sound  through  the 
deserted  glens,  but  no  eager  warriors  will  answer  the  summons;  the  last 
notes  which  pealed  in  many  a  valley  were  the  plaintive  strains  of  the 
expatriated  clansmen — Cha  till,  cha  till,  cha  till,  sin  tuile,  "  we  return, 
we  return,  we  return  no  more."  The  necessity  for  thus  expelling  the 
tenantry  is  doubtful,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  having 
proved  by  experiment,  that  the  Cheviot  breed  of  sheep,  so  much  esteem- 
ed by  the  farmer,  could  be  introduced  and  thrive  on  the  most  bleak 
mountains,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  old  inhabitants  might  be  retain- 
ed in  their  possessions. "f 

The  sheep  has  always  been  associated  with  our  ideas  of  the  pastoral 
life,  and,  from  its  inoffensive  nature  and  great  usefulness,  has  ever  been 
a  favorite  with  the  shepherd,  and  the  theme  of  rural  song,  and  it  is  to  be 
remarked,  that  while  cattle-lifting  was  not  considered  dishonorable,  a 
sheep  stealer  among  the  Highlanders  was  held  infamous  Although 
apparently  a  stupid  animal,  many  curious  proofs  of  its  strong  instinct 
might  be  adduced.  The  attachment  of  sheep  to  the  place  of  their  nativity 
is  remarkable.  They  have  been  known  to  traverse  great  distances  for 
the  purpose  of  revisiting  the  scenes  of  their  youth  and  rejoining  their 
progeny. 

Swine,  muic,  were  formerly  numerous  in  the  low  country  of  Scot- 
land, but  the  Highlanders  appear  to  have  paid  little  attention  to  them, 
allowing  them  to  roam  in  a  state  of  nature.  The  breed  has  been  inter- 
mixed with  others,  and  much  improved  in  size,  by  the  encouragement 
of  the  Highland  Society,  and  the  native  animal,  which  was  small,  is 
extinct,  except  perhaps  in  the  Isle  of  Man  and  in  the  wilds  of  Sutherland, 


Heron's  Hist,  of  Scotland,  v.  15. 


t  A^ric.  Report. 


PASTURE. 


289 


where  a  few  still  remain.  The  Scots  retain  an  antipathy  to  pork;  wheth- 
er derived  from  the  ancient  Celts,  or  the  early  Christians,  is  difficult  to 
determine,  and,  although  this  aversion  is  disappearing,  it  is  far  from  being 
eradicated.  In  the  Agricultural  Report  for  the  county  of  Banff*  it  is 
stated  that  live  swine  have  never  yet  been  sold  in  any  of  the  fairs  of  the 
north.  Many  places  evince  by  their  names  that  these  animals  must  have 
been  there  found  in  considerable  numbers.  There  is  the  Isle  of  Muc, 
Glen  Muic,  Mucross,  &c. 

Those  who  attended  the  cattle  were,  by  the  ancient  Britons,  called 
Cheangon,  retainers,  and  Paruis,  herdsmen,  whence  some  tribes,  it  is 
thought,  were  named  by  the  Romans,  Cangi  and  Parisii.  Goat  herds 
were  denominated  Gabr  and  Gabrant,  or  Gabrantic*  The  laws  of  Wales 
provided  for  the  pasturage  in  common  of  all  the  cattle  of  one  place. 
The  Aoireannan  of  the  Highlanders  are  the  "  keepers  of  cattle,"  and 
are  a  sort  of  farm  servants  who  have  the  charge  of  cultivating  a  certain 
portion  of  land,  and  taking  care  of  the  cattle  it  supports.  They  are 
allowed  grass  for  two  milk  cows  and  six  sheep,  and  had  also  the  tenth 
sheaf,  with  the  privilege  of  raising  as  much  potatoes  as  they  chose. 
The  slaves  of  the  ancient  Irish,  or  those  purchased  or  carried  off  from 
England,  Wales,  or  the  continent,  were  employed  in  tending  the  flocks. "j* 
In  the  old  practice  of  folding  cattle  on  the  farm  lands,  the  herds  shelter 
themselves  in  a  little  hut  of  poles  and  pliant  twigs,  and  this,  called  Bothan 
tothair,  is  an  exact  model,  on  a  small  scale,  of  the  ancient  British  hut. 

The  Cattle  of  the  Celts  were  usually  secured  in  a  strong  inclosure 
connected  with  the  camp  or  fort,  as  may  be  seen  by  inspecting  the  plans 
of  the  ancient  strongholds.  At  other  times  they  were  placed  in  inclo- 
sures  formed,  according  to  Brehon  regulations,  by  trenches  and  banks, 
strengthened  by  stakes  or  live  hedges  to  guard  against  the  attacks  of 
wolves  and  other  ravenous  animals,  as  well  as  the  attempts  of  hostile 
tribes.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  means  were  found  to  secure  the 
cattle  near  the  Duns,  as  at  Castle  Coul,  before  described.  Pennant  says 
the  Boaghun  was  the  dun  in  which  they  were  lodged.  The  Britons, 
according  to  Whitaker,  had  sheds,  constructed  of  stone  and  wood,  for 
this  purpose,  some  of  their  ruins,  16  feet  by  12,  having  been  discovered 
at  Manchestci. 

Pliny  says  there  was  no  better  pasture  than  the  German  fields. J  The 
Gauls  had  very  extensive  fields  of  grass,  and  it  was  mostly  natural;  the 
only  artificial  sort  known  to  them  being  trefoil:  but  the  superior  manner 
in  which  these  people  prepared  their  lands,  and  the  judicious  use  of 
marie,  must  have  rendered  them  abundantly  fertile.  Their  cattle  were 
objects  of  great  pride,  and  in  their  anxiety  to  improve  the  breed  they 
showed  themselves  good  farmers,  and  acquired  the  praise  of  others  for 
their  agricultural  knowledge.    It  was  remarked  by  Cato,  and  assented 

*  Whitaker,  on  authority  of  Ptolemy  and  Richard  of  Cirencester, 
t  Ware.  t  Lib.  xvi.  4. 

37 


290 


MODE  OF  PASTURAGE. 


to  by  Pliny,*  that  the  best  means  of  deriving  profit  from  a  farm  was  to 
feed  cattle  well. 

Since  Scotland  has  become  so  destitute  of  wood,  the  pasture  has 
materially  suffered.  The  ground  in  the  Straths, where  the  ancient  woods 
have  decayed,  do  not  now  yield  a  quarter  of  the  grass  it  did  when  shel- 
tered by  the  foliage,  and  the  farmer  is  not  able  to  outwinter  his  cattle  as 
formerly:  but  the  bare  hills  and  flats  are  now  abundantly  stocked  with 
sheep,  the  animal  whose  increase  is  said  to  have  been  the  chief  reason 
of  the  destruction  of  the  young  trees,  and  consequent  deterioration  of  the 
pasture.  Notwithstanding  the  care  of  the  Highland  farmer,  he  often 
loses  great  numbers  of  his  cattle  from  want  of  food.  The  variable  cli- 
mate sometimes  indeed  reduces  himself  to  want,  but  he  frequently  has 
his  farm  much  overstocked,  and  the  consequence,  scarcity  of  provender 
in  a  severe  winter,  is  certain,  while  to  counteract  the  evil  there  are  few 
means.  In  Strathdon,  in  Aberdeenshire,  the  people  are  accustomed  to 
take  heath  tops  for  winter  store  with  advantage;  and  when  the  cattle  can 
be  turned  out  they  assist  them  to  this  food  by  clearing  the  snow  from 
it.t 

In  the  early  stages  of  society,  before  land  is  regularly  divided  among . 
the  members  of  a  tribe,  the  shepherds  freely  move  from  pasture  to  pasture 
as  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs.  The  Suevi,  the  chief  nation  at  one 
time  in  Germany,  had  no  inclosure,  but  moved  to  new  situations  every 
year.  Britain,  says  Gildas,  abounds  in  hills  that  are  very  convenient 
for  the  alternate  pasture  of  flocks  and  herds,  which  most  certainly  alludes 
to  the  ancient  practice  still  preserved  among  the  Scots  Highlanders,  and 
formerly  a  remarkable  characteristic  of  the  Irish,  who  maintained  abun- 
dance of  cattle.  Spenser  describes  them  as  leading  a  wandering  life, 
driving  their  herds  continually  with  them,  and  feeding  only  on  their 
milk  and  white  meats,  a  practice  which  was  called  boolying.J  This 
vagrant  life,  so  like  to  that  of  the  Scythians,  seems  to  have  given  rise, 
as  before  observed,  to  the  name  of  Scots,  common  to  certain  parts  of  the 
population  of  both  countries.  It  has  been  long  impossible  for  any  among 
the  civilized  nations  of  Europe  to  pursue  exactly  this  itinerant  life,  but 
in  Scotland,  where  a  large  tract  of  mountainous  country  is  annexed  to 
a  farm,  the  owner  still  continues  to  move  his  flocks  in  something  resem- 
bling the  ancient  manner. 

After  the  Irish  rebellion,  in  1641,  several  wandering  clans,  under  the 
name  of  creaghs,  or  plunderers,  overran  the  country  with  their  numerous 
flocks,  so  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  English  settlers,  that  it  was  found 
necessary  to  restrain  their  perambulations  by  public  authority. §  The 
Highlanders  were  till  lately  universally  accustomed  to  move  from  the 
Bailte  Geamhre,  or  winter  towns,  to  the  Arich,  or  breeding  grounds,  in 
the  hills;  every  davoch,  or  tenpenny  land,  and  even  each  farm,  having 

*Lib.  xviii.  V.  f  Stat.  Account,  xv.  4G3.  J  Page  35. 

§  Coll.  reb.  Hib.  ii.  p.  225.    Beauford's  Diss,  on  Irish  Language. 


MODE  OF  PASTURAGE. 


291 


a  certain  portion  of  mountain  territory  for  this  purpose.*  Here  the 
seisgach,  or  dry  cattle,  remained  during  the  winter,  if  not  too  severe, 
while  the  others  were  brought  down  to  the  more  sheltered  homesteadiiig 
in  the  glen.  Spenser  says,  in  Ireland  each  cantred  maintained  400  cows 
in  four  herds  kept  apart.  In  Scotland,  where  there  existed  any  right  of 
common  pasturage,  the  number  of  cattle  which  each  individual  was  en- 
titled to  turn  out  was  according  to  the  number  which  he  could  fodder  in 
winter  on  his  own  farm,  and  the  proportions,  in  case  of  dispute,  were 
settled  by  a  form  of  law  called  an  action  of  souming  and  rouming.  The 
ancient  practice,  which  is  still  fondly  adhered  to  where  practicable,  is 
thus  described  by  an  intelligent  proprietor  of  Sutherland.  "The  princi- 
pal farmers,  who  reside  in  the  straths,  or  valleys,  along  the  banks  of  the 
streams,  have  extensive  grazings  in  the  mountains  where  the  cattle  are 
driven  in  the  summer.  Early  in  the  spring  a  person,  who  has  the  name 
of  Poindler,  is  sent  to  these  hill  pastures  to  prevent  strange  cattle  from 
trespassing,  and  when  the  crop  is  sown  and  the  peats  cut,  the  guidwife 
and  her  maids,  with  some  of  the  male  part  of  the  family  occasionally,  set 
out  with  the  milk  cows  and  goats,  and  take  up  their  residence  in  the 
Shealing  or  Airie,  which  is  a  hut,  or  bothy,  with  one  apartment,  perhaps 
12  feet  square,  for  the  purpose  of  eating  and  sleeping  in,  another  of  a  simi- 
lar size  for  the  milk  vessels,  and,  in  general,  there  is  a  small  fold  to  keep 
the  calves  apart  from  the  cows.  Here  they  employ  themselves  indus- 
triously in  making  butter  and  cheese,  living  on  the  produce  of  their 
flocks,  some  oatmeal,  and  a  little  whiskey,  contented,  happy,  and  healthy, 
dancing  to  the  pipes  or  the  melody  of  their  own  voices,  and  singing  their 
old  native  songs,  not  only  in  the  intervals  of  work,  but  in  milking  their 
flocks,  who  listen  with  pleasure  and  attention  to  the  music,  particularly 
to  an  air  appropriate  to  the  occupation,  of  which  the  animals  even  evince 
a  fondness.  Here  they  remain  for  about  six  weeks,  the  men  occasionally 
returning  to  the  homestead  to  collect  their  peats,  and  perform  any  other 
necessary  work,  when  the  pasture  becoming  exhausted,  they  all  return 
to  the  farm,  and  leave  the  yeld,  or  young  cattle  and  horses,  to  roam  at 
freedom  among  the  hills  until  the  severity  of  winter  drive  them  home. 
The  practice  was  to  rear  a  calf  for  every  two  cows,  and  after  the  family 
were  served  with  the  product  of  the  dairy  there  were  twenty-four  to 
thirty  pounds  of  butter,  and  as  much  cheese  from  each  cow."t 

The  temperature  of  the  milk  in  churning  is  ascertained  by  the  sound 
of  the  cream.  When  harsh,  it  indicates  its  being  too  cold,  but  when 
sufficiently  warm,  it  is  soft. 

Rennet  of  a  deer,  lamb,  or  hare's  stomach,  are  indifferently  used  by 
the  Highlanders  for  coagulating  the  milk:  sometimes  the  gizzards  of 
fowls  are  applied  for  this  purpose,  and  the  stomach  of  a  sow  is  said  to  be 
preferable  to  any  other.    The  old  practice  was  to  convert  the  cream 

*  Grant's  Thoughts  on  the  Gael.  This  intelligent  writer  believes  the  name  of 
Argyle,  anciently  spelt  Aregael,  and  applied  to  a  great  proportion  of  the  Highlands,, 
signifies  the  breeding  grounds  of  the  Gadl.  t  Agric.  Report. 


TREATMENT  OF  CATTLE  WHEN  DISEASED. 


into  butter,  and  the  skimmed  milk  into  cheese,  but  there  is  little  sweet 
milk  cheese  now  made.  The  old  mode  of  curd  cut  into  large  pieces  is 
therefore  in  a  great  measure  given  up.  It  is  a  very  old  custom  in  the 
Highlands  to  mix  aromatic  herbs  with  the  rennet,  a  practice  that  has 
recently  been  recommended  as  a  great  improvement  by  some  English 
writers,  by  whom  it  is  thought  a  new  discovery. 

The  ancient  Celts  had  some  singular  methods  of  treating  their  cattle 
when  ill,  and  superstitious  observances  to  protect  them  from  mischief 
They  were  accustomed  to  take  as  much  of  limeum  or  belenium  as  could 
be  laid  on  an  arrow  head,  which  was  put  in  three  measures  of  liquid  and 
poured  down  the  animal's  throat.  What  disease  this  prescription  was 
designed  to  cure  does  not  appear,  but  the  cattle  were  fastened  to  stakes 
until  it  had  ceased  to  operate,  for  they  often  went  mad  from  its  effects. 
Samolus,  march  wort,  or  fenberry,  which  was  gathered  with  peculiar 
ceremonies,  was  laid  in  the  troughs  where  cattle  drank,  in  order  to  save 
them  from  all  diseases.* 

The  Highlanders,  as  may  be  supposed,  have  many  superstitions  re- 
garding their  cattle,  and  indulge  in  many  absurd  ceremonies,  some  of 
which  may  have  at  the  same  time  originated  in  satisfactory  experiment,, 
and  acknowledged  efficacy  of  prescription.  The  manner  in  which  the 
disease,  or  accident,  called  elf-shot,  is  successfully  treated,  has  been 
before  described.  On  new  year's  day  it  is  a  practice  deemed  salutary 
for  the  cattle,  to  burn  before  them  the  branches  of  juniper.  It  is  com- 
mon to  the  Highlanders  and  Irish  to  keep  a  large  oval- shaped  crystal, 
the  virtue  of  which  is,  that  water  being  poured  on  it  and  administered  to 
the  animals,  they  are  sained,  or  preserved  from  many  evils  that  would 
otherwise  befall  them.  Mountain-ash  and  honey-suckle,  placed  in  the 
cowhouse  on  the  second  of  May,  we  may  be  assured,  has  not  been 
resorted  to  without  undeniable  experience  of  much  good.  Most  of  these 
superstitious  customs  have  no  doubt  existed  since  the  days  of  Paganism, 
their  object  being  to  counteract  the  designs  of  evil  spirits.  Witches,  war 
locks,  and  other  '*  uncanny"  persons,  are  now  the  chief  objects  of  dread, 
and  to  baffle  their  diabolical  efforts  the  farmer  exerts  his  utmost  skill 
and  faith.  Reginald  Scot's  "  special  charm  to  preserve  all  cattel  from 
witchcraft,"  is  doubtless  a  secret  well  worth  knowing. 

While  on  the  subject  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  describe  some  of  the 
methods  by  which  the  Highlanders  endeavor  to  cure  their  cattle  when 
diseased,  and  guard  them  from  impending  illness.  To  prevent  the 
spreading  of  that  direful  disease  called  the  blackquarter,  the  animal  is 
taken  to  a  house  into  which  no  cattle  are  ever  after  to  enter,  and  there 
the  heart  is  taken  out  while  the  creature  is  yet  alive,  and  being  hung  up 
in  the  place  where  the  other  cattle  are  kept,  it  preserves  them  from  death. 
A  live  trout,  or  frog,  is  put  down  the  throat  to  cure  what  is  called  blood- 
grass.  Murrain,  or  hastie,  a  complaint  with  which  an  animal  is  sudden 
iy  seized,  becoming  swelled,  breathing  hard,  with  water  flowing  from 

*  Pliny,  xxiv.  c.  9. 


DROVERS. 


293 


the  eyes,  and  dying  in  a  few  hours,  is  treated  in  a  peculiar  manner.  The 
disease  is  less  frequent  since  the  decay  of  the  woods,  but  it  appears  in 
so  malignant  a  form,  for  dogs  who  eat  of  the  carcass  are  poisoned,  that 
it  is  firmly  believed  to  be  the  effect  of  supernatural  agency.  To  defeat 
the  sorceries,  certain  persons  who  have  the  power  to  do  so  are  sent  for, 
to  raise  the  Needfire.  Upon  any  small  river,  lake,  or  island,  a  circular 
booth  of  stone  or  turf  is  erected,  on  which  a  couple,  or  rafter  of  birch- 
tree,  is  placed,  and  the  roof  covered  over.  In  the  centre  is  set  a  per- 
pendicular post,  fixed  by  a  wooden  pin  to  the  couple,  the  lower  end 
being  placed  in  an  oblong  groove  on  the  floor;  and  another  pole  is  placed 
horizontally,  between  the  upright  post  and  the  leg  of  the  couple,  into 
both  which,  the  ends,  being  tapered,  are  inserted.  This  horizontal  tim- 
ber is  called  the  auger,  being  provided  with  four  short  arms,  or  spokes, 
by  which  it  can  be  turned  round.  As  many  men  as  can  be  collected  are 
then  set  to  work,  having  first  divested  themselves  of  all  kinds  of  metal, 
and  two  at  a  time  continue  to  turn  the  pole  by  means  of  the  levers,  while 
others  keep  driving  wedges  under  the  upright  post  so  as  to  press  it  against 
the  auger,  which  by  the  friction  soon  becomes  ignited.  From  this  the 
Needfire  is  instantly  procured,  and  all  other  fires  being  immediately 
quenched,  those  that  are  re-kindled  both  in  dwelling-house  and  oflSces 
are  accounted  sacred,  and  the  cattle  are  successively  made  to  smell  them. 
This  practice  is  believed  to  have  arisen  from  the  Baaltein,  or  holy  fires 
of  the  Druids.  Sometimes  the  diseased  animal  is  brought,  and  held  with 
its  tongue  pulled  out,  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  over  a  sooty  turf  fire, 
and  the  sods  from  the  roof  are  at  other  times  put  in  a  pot  with  live  coal 
and  a  quantity  of  good  strong  ale. 

The  Highland  drovers,  or  those  persons  who  are  intrusted  with  the 
charge  of  bringing  the  cattle  from  the  mountains  to  the  southern  markets, 
are  a  class  of  considerable  importance,  and  their  occupation  is  peculiar 
to  their  country.  The  drover  was  a  man  of  integrity,  for  to  his  care  was 
committed  the  property  of  others  to  a  large  amount.  He  conducted  the 
cattle  by  easy  stages  across  the  country  in  tractways,  which,  whilst  they 
were  less  circuitous  than  public  roads,  were  softer  for  the  feet  of  the  ani- 
mals, and  he  often  rested  at  night  in  the  open  field  with  his  herds.  These 
trusty  factors  often  come  as  far  as  Barnet,  and  even  to  London.  In  one 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  novels,  the  Chronicles  of  the  Canongate  I  believe, 
is  a  spirited  description  of  one  of  these  Celts. 

I  am  not  aware  of  the  rules  which  may  have  regulated  the  division  of 
a  cattle  spoil,  farther  than  that  there  was  generally  a  mutual  division, 
among  the  ancient  Celts.  The  Highland  practice,  as  before  stated,  was 
to  give  two  thirds  to  the  chief,  but  whether  any  particular  rights  existed 
among  the  Gael,  as  we  find  in  other  nations,  does  not  appear.  A  con- 
stable was  anciently  entitled  to  all  cattle  without  horns,  horses  unshod, 
and  hogs  taken  in  foraging,  and  the  marshal  received  all  spotted  cattle.* 
If  any  one  in  the  Highlands  could  claim  horses  without  shoes  he  would. 
*  Edmonson's  Heraldry. 


294 


AGRICULTURE. 


have  taken  all.  In  a  following  chapter  will  be  seen  the  perquisites 
which  some  individuals  in  Celtic  society  received  when  cattle  were 
slaughtered. 

The  cattle  of  the  Gael  were  the  temptation  to  mutual  wars  and  unre- 
lenting feuds,  and  they  were  the  estimable  reward  of  enterprising  war- 
riors. The  herds  often  changed  owners  during  the  continuance  of  war. 
In  1626,  we  find  the  Governor  of  Ireland  takmg  4000  cows  from  the 
Burkes;  and  in  1587,  Tyrone  carries  off  2000  cows,  and  a  great  number 
of  garrons,  &c.,  from  Sir  Arthur  O'Neal.  These  were  respectable 
creachs,  and  seem  to  justify  the  title  which  the  Highlander  claimed  for 
the  cattle  lifters,  —  gentlemen  drovers. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The  Celtfe,  although  much  attached  to  the  pastoral  life,  were  not  in- 
attentive to  the  advantages  of  agriculture.  The  sterner  tribes  did  not 
to  be  sure  apply  themselves  with  much  assiduity  to  that  or  any  other 
pursuit,  save  those  of  war  and  plunder;  thinking  with  the  Germans,  of 
whom  Tacitus  speaks,  that  it  was  stupid  to  gain  by  their  labor,  what 
could  be  more  quickly  acquired  by  their  blood,  but  in  general  they  cul- 
tivated a  greater  or  less  proportion  of  ground. 

The  Belgic  part  of  the  population  of  Britain  is  described  by  Csesar  as 
practising  agriculture  to  a  considerable  extent,  while  the  Celts,  or  tribes 
of  the  interior,  are  represented  as  neglecting  or  remaining  ignorant  of 
this  useful  art,  paying  exclusive  attention  to  the  pasturage  of  numerous 
flocks.  This  description  has  led  to  the  belief  that  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  was  entirely  confined  to  the  Belgians,  and  even  introduced  by  them, 
but  the  expression  does  not  warrant  this  supposition.  That  the  inland 
tribes  were  not  ignorant  of  agriculture,  but  did  raise  corn,  is  certain.  It 
may,  at  the  same  time,  be  readily  admitted,  that  the  local  and  commer- 
cial advantages  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  provinces  stimulated 
them  to  greater  diligence,  but  they  were  not  the  sole  agriculturists  in  the 
island.  The  rich  fields  of  corn  which  Caesar  found  on  the  south  and  west 
coasts,  a  fortunate  acquisition  for  the  sustenance  of  his  troops,  most  like- 
ly struck  him  as  a  peculiarity  on  observing  the  numerous  herds  and  the 
limited  crops  in  the  interior.  From  the  address  of  Bonduca  to  her  army 
it  is  apparent  that  agriculture  was  not  unknown  to  those  tribes  denomi- 
nated Celtic,  however  limited  the  extent  of  their  operations  may  have  been. 

It  has  been  asserted,  from'^the  speech  which  Tacitus  assigns  to  Gal- 
gacus,  that  the  art  of  procuring  sustenance  by  the  culture  of  the  ground 
was  unknown  to  the  Caledonians,  but  an  attentive  perusal  of  the  pas- 
sage will  show  that  this  inference  is  not  quite  fair;  the  warrior  only 
reminds  his  countrymen  that,  while  free,  they  had  no  fields  to  cultivate 
for  a  master.*  Dio  Nica^us,  who  relates  that  the  people  north  of  Adri- 
an's wall  had  no  cultivated  lands,  but  lived  on  the  produce  of  their  flocks. 


*  Vita  Agric.  §  31. 


AGRICULTURE. 


293 


is  also  brought  forward  as  authority  on  this  subject,  but  his  assertion 
cannot  be  unhesitatingly  admitted.  Strabo  enumerates  grain  among  the 
British  exports,  and  it  is  well  known  that,  shortly  after  the  Romans  had 
settled  in  the  island,  large  quantities  of  corn  were  annually  transported  to 
the  continent,  for  the  supply  not  only  of  their  friends,  but  the  armies  of 
the  Romans.  It  is  true  that  this  increased  industry  in  agricultural  labor 
is  attributed  to  Roman  incitement,  but  as  that  people  had  not  to  teach 
the  Celts  how  to  improve  their  soil,  but,  on  the  contrary,  found  them 
enterprising  agriculturists,  the  reasonable  explanation  of  the  fact  is, 
that  the  Britons  only  availed  themselves  of  the  new  opening  for  the  sale 
of  their  grain.  The  same  energy  was  exerted  by  the  nations  of  the  con- 
tinent, Gauls,  Germans,  and  Celtiberians;  when  subdued  by  the  Roman 
arms,  they  found  a  profitable  market  for  the  produce  of  their  fields,  but 
these  nations  followed  agriculture  with  success  long  before  they  became 
tributary  to  Rome. 

Malmutius  was  a  celebrated  British  legislator  on  agriculture.  The 
laws  of  Moelmus,  who  is  perhaps  the  same  individual,  are  now  believed 
to  be  lost.*  The  Welsh  Chronicles  celebrate  Eltud,  or  Eltutus  and 
others,  as  the  authors  of  different  improvements  in  the  system  of  field 
labor. 

The  laborers  of  the  ground  were  called  by  the  ancient  Highlanders, 
Draonaich,  the  genuine  name,  it  is  thought,  of  the  Picts.|  The  people 
of  the  eastern  coast,  where  agriculture  could  be  pursued  with  success, 
were  so  designated  by  the  western  Gael,  and  vestiges  of  the  habitations 
of  the  Draonaich  are  found  within  the  limits  of  the  ancient  Caledo- 
nia, proving  the  meaning  of  the  appellation  synonymous  with  Pict,  and 
still  retained  by  the  Gael.  The  sites  of  these  houses  are  scarcely  ever 
found  without  the  visible  marks  of  former  cultivation  on  the  adjoining 
heath. 

Although  the  inhabitants  of  the  plains,  who  devoted  themselves  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  ground,  were  called  Draonaich,  "yet  a  certain  portion 
of  the  people  residing  among  the  Gael  of  the  mountains,  were  also  known 
by  the  same  denomination;  of  which  important  fact  the  most  complete 
evidence  remains  to  this  day.  The  foundations  of  the  houses  of  those 
who  employed  themselves  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  are  distinguished 
by  the  appellation  Larach  tai  Draoneach,  (the  foundation  of  a  house  of 
a  Draonaich  or  Pict.)  These  are  very  numerous  in  many  parts  of  the 
country,  and  are,  without  exception,  of  a  circular  form,  with  the  entrance 
to  the  house  regularly  fronting  due  east.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the 
place  of  residence  of  the  writer  of  these  sheets,  within  the  bounds  of  the 
ancient  Caledonian  forest,  there  are  cultivated  fields;  which  further 
proves  the  fact,  that  the  term  Draonaich  was  not  exclusively  appropriat- 
ed to  the  people  inhabiting  the  more  level  country  of  Scotland,  but  was 
applied  also  to  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  the 
country.     Druim  a  Dhraonaich  and  Ach  a  Dhraonaich  are  fields  well 


*  Roberts. 


t  Grant's  Thoughts  on  the  Gael. 


296 


AGRICULTURE. 


known  in  the  western  part  of  the  valley  of  Urquhart,  lying  to  the  west- 
ward of  Lochness;  and  still  farther  to  the  westward,  in  the  adjacent  valley 
of  Strathglass,  there  is  a  cultivated  field  called  An  Draonachc.  And 
even  at  this  day  the  people  who  possess  the  arable  lands  in  the  bottom  of 
the  valley  in  the  vicinity  of  Draonachc,  and  who  have  been,  for  a  long 
period  of  time,  remarked  to  be  more  industrious  than  their  neighbors, 
are  called  Draonaich  Bhail  na  h  amhn  (the  Draonaich  of  the  River 
town,)  which  is  a  village  situated  by  the  side  of  the  river  Glass,  running 
through  the  valley.  When  a  man  is  observed  employing  himself  in 
laborious  exertion  upon  the  soil,  it  is  a  common  expression  among  the 
Highlanders,  be'n  Draoneach  e,  that  is,  he  is  truly  a  Draoneach.  The 
Gael  of  the  mountains  were  divided  into  two  classes,  Arich  and  Draon- 
aich. The  first  were  the  cattle  breeders,  and  the  other  were  the  culti- 
vators of  the  soil,  and  indeed  comprehended  all  persons  who  practised 
an  art.  Accordingly  in  Ireland,  Draoneach  signifies  an  artist,  and 
Draonachas,  an  artifice." 

"  The  foundations  of  the  houses  of  the  Draonaich  are  so  numerous 
in  some  parts  of  the  Highlands,  as  to  aflford  the  most  decisive  evidence 
that  the  number  of  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  must  have  been,  in  very 
ancient  times,  prior  to  the  knowledge  of  the  plough,  very  considerable."* 

When  mankind  first  associate  together,  and  apply  themselves  to  culti- 
vate the  earth,  it  is  done  by  the  joint  labor  of  all  the  members  of  the 
community,  who  have  an  equal  right  to  the  crop  that  is  produced,  and 
will  receive  proportions  of  it  according  to  their  wants,  but  after  a  village 
has  been  some  time  settled,  and  the  inhabitants  advanced  in  civilisation, 
this  common  property  in  the  land  is  generally  abolished.  Each  individ- 
ual is  considered  entitled  to  the  produce  of  his  own  labor,  and  as  he 
continues  to  possess  the  same  parcel  of  land,  he  is  understood  to  have  a 
certain  right  to  it,  and  thus  either  by  prescription,  or  allotment,  the  tracts 
under  cultivation  become  distributed  among  all  the  members.  In  regu- 
lating these  divisions,  as  in  the  management  of  the  common  property,  the 
chief  exercises  his  delegated  power.  The  right  he  assumes  of  disposing 
of  the  public  possessions  is  naturally  acknowledged,  and  by  retaining  for 
himself  an  extent  suflScient  to  support  his  rank,  he  acquires  an  additional 
authority,  and  subjects  the  different  proprietors  to  the  observance  of 
certain  conditions  necessary  for  the  general  welfare.  Such  is  the 
natural  progress  of  mankind  in  the  advance  of  civilisation,  but  this 
tendency  to  an  early  division  of  the  land  is  counteracted  by  various 
circumstances.  Poverty,  the  rudeness  of  husbandry,  the  relationship 
of  the  members,  and  an  adherence  to  ancient  custom,  with  a  strong 
impatience  of  any  thing  like  an  infringement  of  their  equal  rights,  com- 
bine to  prevent  a  separation  of  interest.  Under  the  patriarchal  or 
clannish  system  of  government,  where  the  claims  of  consanguinity  are 
so  strong,  mutual  labor  and  assistance  continue,  and  the  practice  of 


Grant's  Thoughts  on  the  Gael,  p.  2S0. 


COMMON  HOLDING.— BOUNDARIES. 


297 


cultivating  the  land  in  common,  once  so  universal  in  Scotland,  where  it 
still  lingers  among  the  Celtic  inhabitants,  is  the  ancient  mode  of  conduct- 
ing agricultural  operations. 

The  Suevi,  a  powerful  nation  of  Germany,  who  were  distinguished  for 
their  attention  to  agriculture,  pursued  their  rural  occupations  under  the 
following  regulations:  the  tribe  consisted  of  200,000  fighting  men,  and 
of  these  one  half  went  yearly  to  the  wars,  where  they  served  for  twelve 
months,  returning  to  take  the  place  of  the  others,  who,  in  like  manner, 
took  the  field  for  the  same  period  of  service.  The  individuals  seem  to 
have  had  a  certain  quantity  of  land  assigned  to  them,  but  no  man  was 
allowed  to  remain  more  than  one  year  in  the  same  place.*  The  Vaccoei, 
a  nation  of  the  higher  Iberia,  now  Leon,  every  year  divided  their  land, 
ploughing  and  tilling  it  in  common.  After  harvest  they  distributed  the 
fruits  in  equal  proportions,  and  it  was  death  to  steal  or  abstract  any  thing 
from  the  husbandman. |  The  Germans,  who  raised  corn  only,  and  made 
no  orchards,  moved  from  land  to  land,  and  still  assigning  portions  suita- 
ble to  the  number  of  persons,  parcelled  out  the  whole  lands  according  to 
the  condition  and  quality  of  each  individual,  every  year  changing  and 
cultivating  a  fresh  soil.j  The  partition  of  land  did  not  preclude  the  ex- 
istence of  common  holding  among  the  members  of  a  tribe  or  community, 
whose  territorial  possessions  were,  by  public  consent,  reserved  for  them- 
selves. All  disputes  concerning  inheritances,  and  the  limits  of  fields, 
were  settled  by  the  Druids.^ 

The  practice  of  common  holding  still  remains  in  the  western  isles  of 
Scotland,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  Highlands,  and  has  not  long  been 
abolished  in  many  districts.  An  act  of  Scots  parliament,  1695,  author- 
ized the  division  of  lands  lying  run  rig,  the  term  by  which  this  common 
property  was  distinguished. |1  Under  such  a  system  it  is  not  easy  to 
regulate  the  proportions  very  nicely:  there  are  generally  more  people 
living  on  lands  so  managed,  than  are  taken  into  calculation,  but,  "  ab- 
surd as  the  common  field  system  is  at  this  day,  it  was  admirably  suited 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  times  ia  which  it  originated;  the  plan  having 
been  conceived  in  wisdom,  and  executed  with  extraordinary  accuracy. "TF 
One  of  its  evils  was,  that  sometimes  none  would  commence  work  while 
any  individual  who  ought  to  attend  was  absent,  but  this  must  have  been 
in  an  ill  regulated  township.  In  the  most  western  counties  of  England 
there  is  no  common  field.  The  lord  lets  oflT  a  portion  of  the  common  for 
two  crops,  when  it  is  allowed  to  become  pasture  again. 

When  the  land  is  cultivated  in  common,  boundary  lines  scarcely 
appear  necessary.    The  Suevi,  Caesar  observes,  had  no  inclosure:  the 

*  CoBsar.  This  writer  describes  them  as  excellent  agriculturists,  yet  he  says  they 
lived  on  milk  and  flesh.  Is  he  inaccurate,  or  did  these  people,  like  some  of  the  Scyth- 
ians, raise  corn  to  sell,  and  not  to  eat .''  t  Diodorus  Siculus. 

+  Tacitus.  He  says  of  one  of  their  tribes,  they  labored  with  more  assiduity  in  agri- 
culture than  suited  the  laziness  of  other  Germans.  §  Caesar. 

II  It  was  also  called  Rig  and  Rennal.  IT  Loudon's  Agriculture,  p.  504. 

38 


298 


BOUNDARIES. 


Romans  themselves  appear  to  have  had  no  other  mark  of  separation  than 
a  statue  of  Terminus.*  The  old  divisions  of  land  were,  when  practica- 
ble, regulated  by  natural  boundaries,  that  were  sometimes  nicely  deter- 
mined by  the  point  of  a  hill,  whence  the  water  was  observed  running  to 
either  side.  It  was  also  a  most  ancient  custom,  all  over  the  Highlands, 
to  build  head  dykes,  or  walls,  that  were  erected  where  there  appeared  a 
natural  demarcation  between  the  green  pasture  and  the  barren  heath. 
Within  this  dyke  was  the  arable  and  meadow  land  of  the  farms,  while 
beyond  that  line  the  cattle,  horses,  goats,  and  sheep,  fed  in  common.  In 
the  Highlands  are  often  seen  the  vestiges  of  inclosures  that  exhibit 
marks  of  great  antiquity,  concerning  the  original  use  of  which  the  inhab- 
itants have  lost  all  knowledge;  the  ridges  of  stones,  visible  at  a  consid- 
erable distance,  and  displaying  extended  white  lines  along  the  brown 
heath,  may,  with  propriety,  be  referred  to  this  mode  of  laying  out  lands. 
Inclosures  are  often  very  improperly  formed  of  the  turf,  or  surface  of 
the  adjoining  land.  Galloway,  or  rickle  dykes,  are  much  esteemed  in 
Dumbartonshire  and  other  Highland  districts.  This  fence  is  construct- 
ed of  stones  loosely  piled  up  to  the  height  of  four  or  five  feet,  every  tier 
being  less  in  size,  and  at  the  top  the  stones  are  wide  apart.  The  fabric 
seems  too  open  and  ill  constructed  to  last  long,  but  it  is  found  to  be  dur- 
able. The  stones  being  placed  with  the  thickest  end  upwards,  act  in 
some  degree  like  the  key  stones  of  an  arch,  and  the  wall  opposes  little 
resistance  to  the  wind.  This  is  an  excellent  protection  against  sheep 
who  will  not  venture  to  scale  such  an  erection.  According  to  the  co- 
operation system,  neighboring  proprietors  joined  in  the  erection  of  boun- 
dary or  march  walls.  In  1577,  we  find  the  Deemsters  of  Man  enforcing 
an  ancient  practice,  that  persons  whose  lands  were  contiguous  should 
be  at  the  mutual  expense  of  forming  the  respective  inclosures.  By  the 
Welsh  laws  the  husbandman  had  a  right  to  the  second  best  of  every 
three  hogs,  sheep,  goats,  geese,  or  hens,  that  trespassed  on  his  corn. 
This  enactment  shows  the  care  of  that  people  to  secure  to  every  one  the 
produce  of  his  industry;  it  was  afterwards  modified:  only  one  out  of  fif- 
teen hogs,  thirty  sheep,  goats,  geese,  &c.  being  awarded  to  the  com- 
plainant, and  if  there  were  not  so  many  animals,  the  compensation  was 
made  in  money.  For  the  encouragement  of  agriculture  no  less  than 
eighty-six  laws  were  made  by  the  Welsh.  If  any  one  obtained  permis- 
sion to  lay  dung  on  another  man's  lands,  he  was  allowed  the  use  of  them 
for  one  year;  and  if  the  dung  was  in  such  quantity  as  required  carts,  the 
term  was  extended  to  three  years.  If  the  lands  of  another  were  cleared 
of  wood,  and  rendered  arable,  the  person  who  did  so  enjoyed  their  pro- 
duce for  five  years,  and  a  person  who  folded  his  cattle  on  another's  field 
without  objection,  for  one  twelve  months,  was  entitled  to  cultivate  it  four 
years  after. 

From  the  nature  of  society,  it  is  evident  that  farms  or  portions  of  land 
*  Virgil's  Georgics,  iii.  212,  &c. 


SIZE  OF  FARMS. 


299 


t 


possessed  and  labored  by  individuals  must  have  been  small.  In  other 
words  the  land  must  have  been  subdivided,  without  a  great  disparity  in 
the  quantities  of  the  different  allotments.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest 
regulations  of  the  Romans  to  assign  every  man  two  acres  of  land.  The 
jugerum,  or  as  much  as  could  be  ploughed  in  one  day  with  a  yoke  of 
oxen,  was  reckoned  a  sufficient  reward  to  a  deserving  officer,  and  to  re- 
ceive the  half  of  a  quartarius,  or  a  pint  of  adoreum,  a  sort  of  fine  red 
wheat,  was  esteemed  an  honorable  testimony  of  public  respect.* 

Steel-bow  tenants  in  Scotland,  received  corn,  straw,  agricultural  im- 
plements, Sec,  from  the  proprietor,  on  condition  of  their  restoration  at  the 
end  of  the  tack  or  agreement,  and  were  bound  to  share  the  produce 
with  the  landlord.  The  old  system  of  agriculture  encouraged  the  resi- 
dence of  numerous  laborers  or  cottars  around  the  house  of  a  farmer,  who 
enjoyed  their  cottage,  and  a  patch  of  ground  as  a  vegetable  garden,  for 
which  they  paid  small  or  no  rent.  In  the  Highlands,  the  malair,  a  per- 
son of  the  same  order,  was  in  the  same  condition.  His  sole  dependence 
was  not  on  the  employment  which  the  land  on  which  he  resided  gave 
him,  but  he  was  bound  to  allow  his  services  to  the  farmer  in  harvest  and 
on  other  occasions.  There  were  no  day  laborers  in  the  Highlands. 
Their  pride  and  sense  of  equality  prevented  them  from  working  for  a 
neighbor,  although  many  toiled  in  the  low  country  for  very  small  reward. 
Improvements  in  Agriculture  have  led  to  the  disappearance  in  many 
places  of  this  class  of  peasantry,  and  it  is  long  since  the  desire  to  in- 
crease the  size  of  farms  has  destroyed  the  more  equable  division  of  land. 
Pliny  says  that  large  farms  had  been  the  ruin  of  the  Roman  provinces, 
and  would  eventually  prove  the  ruin  of  the  whole  state.!  How  far 
they  are  to  be  considered  national  evils  in  these  days,  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  state.  The  country  may  be  depopulated,  and  the  numerical 
strength  of  a  state  may  not  be  lessened,  those  who  can  no  longer  live  as 
farmers  taking  up  their  residence  in  towns;  in  the  Highlands,  however, 
the  ancient  tenants  who  have  been  displaced,  unable  to  gain  a  livelihood 
by  their  handicraft,  have  forever  bidden  farewell  to  their  native  soil,  and 
sought  an  asylum  in  the  wilds  of  America.  A  farm  in  Argyle,  eighteen 
or  twenty  miles  long,  and  three  to  four  broad,  is  said,  by  Doctor  Robert- 
son, of  Dalmenie,  to  be  the  largest  in  Britain.  The  sheep  farm  of  Gal- 
lovie,  in  Badenoch,  is  about  twelve  miles  long,  and  from  eight  to  ten 
broad,  which  makes  it  at  least  ninety-six  square  miles,  consequently  six- 
teen square  miles  larger  than  that  in  Argyle.  One  at  Balnagowan,  in 
Sutherland,  contains  37,000  acres.  A  Highland  farm  may  be  generally 
described  as  a  certain  part  of  a  valley,  stretching  on  either  side  of  the 
burn  or  stream  by  which  it  is  watered.    To  every  possession,  large  and 

*  Pliny  xviii.  3.  Hence,  by  metonomy  adorea,  the  quantity  distributed  came  to  sig- 
nify honor,  praise,  &c.  The  first  institution  of  Romulus  was  twelve  wardens  of  corn 
fields.  Ibid.  2 ;  and  it  shows  how  important  they  considered  the  protection  of  agricul- 
ture, that  when  Carthage  was  taken,  the  only  articles  saved  were  twenty  eight  books, 
which  were  written  by  Mago  on  that  subject.  t  Lib.  xviii.  6. 


300 


SIZE  OF  FARMS.— LAND  MEASURES. 


small,  a  share  of  arable,  meadow,  pasture,  and  muir  land  was  allotted. 
The  best  part  of  the  farm  was  distinguished  as  infield  and  outfield,  the 
former  being  generally  under  crop,  and  in  good  state;  the  latter  consist- 
ing of  places  not  fit  for  tillage,  but  appropriated  to  pasture  the  cattle, 
and  produce  a  little  hay.  Beyond  this,  and  separated  by  the  head  dyke, 
was  the  common  heath,  extending  to  the  summit  of  the  mountains.  Near 
the  house  was  also  the  door  land,  which  served  for  baiting  the  horse  of 
a  visiter  at  meal  time,  or  such  like.  Crofters,  or  smaller  farmers,  had 
no  outfield.  In  officiaries,  which  were  generally  an  ancient  barony,  but 
sometimes  a  modern  division  of  one  to  three  or  more  square  miles,  the 
ground  officer  regulated  the  management  of  the  farms,  fixed  boundaries, 
and  settled  disputes,  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  the  Birlaw  or  Boorlaw 
men,  a  sort  of  rural  jury.  The  more  ancient  Gaelic  practice  was,  how- 
ever, to  refer  the  decision  of  any  controversy  to  the  oldest  men  of  the 
clan,  who  determined  according  to  the  Clechda  or  traditional  precedents, 
and  their  award  was  enforced  by  the  chief.  Several  ancient  terms,  ex- 
pressive of  the  extent  of  land,  are  still  preserved.  Davach  is  a  common 
denomination,  and  is  equivalent  to  four  ploughs.*  Many  farms  in  Scot- 
land retain  the  name,  and  a  well  known  toast  in  Strathbogie  is  the  forty- 
eight  davach,  alluding  to  the  possessions  of  the  Duke  of  Gordon  in  that 
district. 

A  Carucate  is  a  term  anciently  in  very  general  use,  and  is  expressive 
of  as  much  arable  land  as  could  be  managed  with  one  plough,  and  the 
beasts  belonging  thereto,  in  a  year,  with  pasture,  houses,  &c.  for  the 
persons  and  cattle. | 

An  Oxgate  was  a  certain  extent  of  land,  recognised  in  the  later  periods 
of  Scots'  history.  On  the  11th  of  March,  1585,  "  The  lords  fand  that 
thirteen  aikers  sail  be  ane  oxengate;  and  four  oxengate  of  land  sail  be 
ane  pound  land  of  auld  extent. "J  The  old  extent  was  made  about  1190, 
and  remained  in  force  until  1474. 

The  only  mode  of  ascertaining  the  extent  of  arable  land  seems  to  be 
from  the  quantity  of  grain  sown.  The  usual  calculation  is,  that  a  boll 
of  seed  is  required  to  an  acre,  hence  land  is  let  by  this  allowance,  and 
by  the  number  of  cattle  that  it  will  maintain:  but  this  valuation  is  not 
strictly  correct,  for  if  the  land  be  good,  a  less  quantity  is  used,  and  if  bad, 
more  is  required;  it  is,  however,  a  general  guide  for  proprietors.  Ara- 
ble ^  land  in  Galloway,  and  most  parts  of  the  Highlands,  is  still  reckon- 
ed by  pence,  farthings,  and  octos.  The  penny  land  is  generally  allowed 
to  contain  eight  acres,  consequently  a  farthing  is  two  acres,  and  an  octo 
is  one,  or  a  boll's  sowing. 

In  Lochaber  the  land  is  reckoned  by  pence,  farthings,  and  octos,  but 
in  Badenoch,  and  I  believe  in  Strathspey,  &c.,  it  is  reckoned  in  marks, 
eighty  marks  being  equivalent  to  an  octo,  and  eight  octos  making  a 

*  Shaw.  t  Preface  to  Domesday  Book.  t  Had.  MS.  4G28 

§  Arable  is  derived  from  aratus,  ploughed,  a  Latin  word  of  Greek  extract.  Ar,  in 
Gaelic,  is  Agriculture,  and  in  old  Celtic  was  earth. 


RENTS. 


301 


davach.  On  the  old  system,  a  quarter  davach  was  reckoned  a  sufficient 
possession  for  a  gentleman,  and  this  quantity  was  generally  attached  to 
every  bailie  or  farm  town.  A  good  grazing  quarter  davach  will  support 
from  twenty  to  thirty  milk  cows,  and  a  proportion  of  yeld  cattle  and 
horses,  yielding  them  sufficient  fodder.  The  mountain  skirting  the 
Strath,  and  attached  to  the  bailie,  was  fed  in  common  by  the  cattle  of  the 
davach,  and  was  divided  by  water  or  land  marks  from  the  mountain  of 
the  next  valley,  but  the  people  of  as  many  as  four  or  five  davachs  some- 
times grazed  in  common,  in  the  more  distant  summer  sheilings  or  ruidhs. 
As  many  as  eighty  bothies  might  be  seen  on  the  plain  of  Altloy,  in 
Drummin,  in  Badenoch,  and  the  same  on  the  plain  of  Killin,  in  Strath- 
Eric,  a  spot  of  itself  worth  a  journey  from  London  to  see,  about  five 
miles  above  the  celebrated  Fall  of  Fyers. 

Rents  were  obviously  at  first  paid  in  kind,  or  by  certain  quantities  of 
produce.  This  originating  in  early  society,  remained  an  unavoidable 
mode  of  payment  in  countries  destitute  of  a  sufficient  quantity  of  coin  to 
render  the  barter  of  commodities  unnecessary.  By  the  laws  of  Ina,  in 
the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  a  farm  often  hides  or  plough  lands,  paid 
ten  casks  of  honey,  three  hundred  loaves,  twelve  casks  strong  ale,  thirty 
of  small  ale,  two  oxen,  ten  wethers,  ten  geese,  twenty  hens,  ten  cheeses, 
one  cask  of  butter,  five  salmon,  one  hundred  eels,  and  twenty  pounds 
forage.* 

In  Scotland  all  sorts  of  domestic  cattle  and  poultry,  and  the  grain  rais- 
ed on  the  land,  or  proportions  of  meal,  under  the  name  of  customs,  were 
commonly  rendered  until  late  years,  and  still  form  the  chief  amount  of 
rent  in  many  places.  Muir  fowl,  salmon,  loads  of  peats  and  dry  wood, 
&c.,  were  by  no  means  uncommon  in  rentals.  Tenants  were  aI.?o  for- 
merly bound  to  indefinite  servitudes  or  feudal  duties,  under  the  name  of 
arriage  and  carriage,  or  services  used  and  wont,  but  by 'the  act  abol- 
ishing ward  holdings,  no  services,  except  to  mills,  can  be  exacted  that 
are  not  specially  mentioned  in  leases  or  terms  of  agreement.  The  cus- 
tomary duties  were  certain  days'  work  in  seed  time,  hay  and  corn  har- 
vest, the  leading  or  bringing  home  firing,  &c.  These  services  being 
often  useless,  from  the  non-residence  of  the  proprietor,  and  money  be- 
coming more  common,  and  being  found  a  much  more  convenient  medium 
of  settlement,  were  often  commuted  for  the  legal  coin.  In  the  rental  of 
the  Bishoprick  of  Aberdeen,  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
we  see  the  gradual  conversion  of  customs  into  money,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  society.  As  an  instance,  "  The  lands  of  Clovach,  in  the  paro- 
chen  of  Kyldrymie,  sett  to  Lumsden  fTor  £9.  6s.  8d.  One  mart,  twelve 
kidds,  four  geese,  3s.  4d.  for  bondage  and  services,  37s.  4d.  for  grassum, 
and  6s.  8d.  of  augmentation."  "f 

The  following  enumeration  of  the  different  sorts  of  grain  raised  by  the 
Celts,  with  accompanying  observations,  are  perhaps  more  curious  than 
important,  but  are  not  irrelevant  to  the  subject  now  under  consideration. 


Wilkins's  Leges  Saxonicse,  p.  25. 


t  Harl.  MS.  4613. 


302 


DESCRIPTIONS  OF  GRAIN. 


Corn,  originally  the  natural  production  of  the  earth,  was  certainly 
cultivated  by  the  Britons,  before  they  were  visited  by  the  Roman  le- 
gions. The  Germans  raised  much  oats.  Barley,  the  most  ancient  food 
of  mankind,  had  been  long  familiar  to  all  the  CeltjE,*  and  in  Iberia  they 
raised  two  crops  of  it  in  the  year.  That  ancient  historian  Herodotus 
says,  that  the  Egyptians  neither  used  wheat  nor  barley,  which  were  then 
common  in  other  countries."]"  The  wheat  of  the  Gauls  and  Britons  was 
light,  and  of  a  red  color,  receiving  the  name  of  brance,  breic,  or  brae, 
from  its  bright  appearance.  J  It  was  also  called  by  the  Romans  Sanda- 
lium,  or  more  properly,  it  should  seem,  Scandalum,  both  terms  being 
derived,  according  to  Whitaker,  from  the  red  brogs  of  the  Celtce.  San- 
dalium  is  indeed  the  Latin  name  of  a  shoe,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  applied  to  those  of  the  Celts,  and  the  name  of  the  wheat  is  various- 
ly written  sandalum,  scandalum,  scadalam,  &.c.  In  some  parts  of  Italy  , 
Dalechamp  observes,  the  word  scandella  is  still  in  use.  §  This  grain 
was  peculiar  to  Gaul,  and  is  celebrated  by  Pliny  as  of  all  others  most  neat 
and  fair,  yielding  more  bread  by  four  pounds  in  every  modius  or  bushel, 
husked  and  dried,  than  any  other  sort.  ||  That  called  Arinca  was  also  a 
native  of  Gaul,  and  made  the  sweetest  bread. IT  The  siligo,  or  white 
wheat,  was  chiefly  raised  in  Gallia  comata,  among  the  Averni  and  Se- 
quani;  the  Allobroges  called  it  blancheen,  as  the  modern  French  say 
Ble-blanche.  In  Aquitain  much  panicum  was  grown,  a  sort  of  wheat 
resembling  millet,  which  last  was  the  chief  crop  among  the  Sarmatae.** 
The  Thracian  wheat  was  very  good,  being  heavy,  and  ripening  remarka- 
bly quick. Our  researches  do  not  procure  much  information  concern- 
ing the  qualities  of  British  grain  in  ancient  times.  It  appears  that 
Gwent  Iscoed,  a  native  appellation  for  part  of  Monmouthshire,  was  noted 
for  abundance  of  wheat  and  honey;  Dyfed,  or  Pembrokeshire,  for  bar- 
ley and  wine,Vhile  the  staple  of  Carnarvon  was  barley  alone.  J  J  One 
Coll  ap  Coll  frewi,  in  the  sixth  century,  is  said  to  have  introduced  the 
culture  of  wheat  and  barley  to  the  Welsh,  oats  having  been  the  chief 
grain  previously  grown.  Gildas  says  the  Britons  when  at  peace  raised 
all  sorts  of  grain  in  the  greatest  abundance.  In  Scotland  oats  are  the 
chief  produce,  and  the  chief  food  also,  as  all  who  have  turned  to  the 
word  in  Johnson's  Dictionary  are  aware.  Great  quantities  of  barley  are 
likewise  grown,  but  wheat,  except  in  the  southern  and  more  champaign 
districts,  is  not  very  common. 

From  the  marks  of  cultivation  on  the  acclivity  of  mountains,  and  on 
the  summits  of  hills,  so  generally  observable  in  Scotland  and  in  Ireland, 
it  has  been  supposed  that  the  population  must  have  been  considerably 
greater  formerly  than  it  is  now.  These  appearances  are  of  themselves 
no  decisive  proof  of  this,  for  the  high  grounds  were  evidently  cultivated 

*  Barley  bread  was  anciently  given  to  the  Roman  sword  players,  who  were  hence 
called  Hordearii.  Pliny,  xviii.  t  Lib.  ii.  c.  36.  t  Whitaker. 

§  Comment,  ed.  1668,  iii.  p.  427.  1|  Lib.  xviii.  7,  10.  IF  Ibid. 

"  *  Pliny.  1 1  Ibid.  it  Triad,  101. 


ANCIENT  AGRICULTURE. 


303 


when  the  straths  were  obstructed  by  impervious  woods.*  The  ancient 
farmers  also  preferred  the  security  of  the  hill,  to  the  risk  which  the 
haugh  presented  from  the  floods  of  autumn,  an  evil  much  to  be  dreaded 
in  those  moist  climates,  and  they  were,  doubtless,  careful  to  preserve  the 
natural  pasturage  in  the  valleys,  which  no  artificial  means  could  supply 
on  the  hills.  Another  opinion  is  very  prevalent.  Where  the  marks  of 
cultivation  are  found  in  Scotland,  they  are  often  considered  the  memori- 
als of  recent  periods  of  scarcity,  and  the  ravages  of  the  civil  wars,  by 
which  the  proprietor  becoming  ruined,  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  farm; 
and  it  is  argued  that,  in  a  short  period  of  neglect  the  ground  will  become 
overspread  with  heath.  It  is  true  that  this  may  be  the  case,  but  it  is, 
from  the  ridges  which  remain,  sufficiently  apparent  that  those  fields  are 
recognised,  and  they  may  have  been  formed  in  very  remote  ages.  There 
are  many  proofs  in  the  pages  of  national  history  that  the  Scots  were  at  an 
early  period  actively  engaged  in  agriculture;  they  seem  to  have  been 
equally  celebrated  as  keepers  of  cattle  and  laborers  of  the  ground,  in 
both  which  occupations  they  are  at  present  surpassed  by  no  people. 
The  Scots  of  Ireland  were  formerly  noted  for  their  assiduity  in  improv- 
ing the  land,  for  which  they  were  much  disliked  by  the  less  diligent 
natives.!  On  the  submission  of  O'Neal,  he  solicited  aid  to  assist  him 
in  expelling  them,  the  manuring  and  fertilizing  the  ground  appearing  to 
be  a  chief  cause  of  offence.  J 

In  1269,  we  find  it  recorded  as  a  great  calamity,  that  a  frost  in  Scot- 
land prevented  ploughing  from  the  20th  Nov.  to  the  2nd  of  February. 
In  1298,  while  the  English  were  besieging  Dirleton  Castle,  they  were 
obliged  to  subsist  on  the  peas  and  beans  which  they  gathered  in  the 
fields, §  and  in  1336,  a  feud  in  Lothian  laid  one  hundred  ploughs  idle.|| 
Those  facts,  it  must  be  allowed,  relate  to  parts  of  the  country  that  were 
4not  then  Gaelic,  but  they  show  that  agriculture  was  by  no  means  neg- 
^(ected  in  distant  ages.    As  the  Highlanders,  from  their  numbers  of  cat- 
v^^e,  had  it  always  in  their  power  to  supply  themselves  with  corn  in  the 
^''^owlands,  and  found  it  necessary  to  take  grain  in  exchange  for  their 

^  .  _  :  

BjLWhen  the  Caledonian  forest  was  thick,  its  growth  on  the  banks  of  rivers  must 
led  to  the  formation  of  marshes.  The  plains  on  the  sides  of  the  Spey,  which  are 
still  overflowed  by  the  autumn  floods,  must  have  formerly  been  mere  sw^amps.  It  is 
related  of  Michael  Scot,  Alexander  Gordon,  (Alastair  Ruadh  na  Cairnich,  probably 
Cairness,)  and  Mac  Donald  of  Keppoch,  that  they  had  studied  the  black  art  in  Italy, 
the  end  of  the  15th  century,  and  it  is  added  that  Mac  Donald  was  the  greatest  profi- 
cient. He  was  accustomed  to  converse  on  the  subjects  with  which  his  unhallowed 
learning  had  made  him  acquainted,  with  a  female  brownie  called  Glaslig,  for  whom  it 
is  believed  he  was  more  than  a  match.  One  evening  he  asked  her  the  most  romote 
circumstance  she  remembered,  when  she  replied  that  she  recollected  the  time  when  the 
great  Spey,  the  nurse  of  salmon,  was  a  green  marsh  for  sheep  and  lambs  to  feed  on. 

t  At  a  depth  of  five  or  six  feet,  a  good  soil  for  vegetation,  formed  into  ridges,  is  often 
discovered.  A  plough  was  found  in  a  deep  bog,  near  Donegal ;  and  a  hedge,  and  some 
wattles,  were  found  standing  at  a  depth  of  six  feet. 

t  Derrick.  §  W.  Hemingford,  i.  160.  I|  Fordun,  xv.  31. 


304 


MARL. 


flocks,  it  may  in  some  measure  account  for  the  limited  cultivation  ii 
*'thc  rough  bounds,"  for  the  Gael  were  certainly  not  incompetent  to 
raise  grain,  as  far  as  the  sterility  of  the  mountains,  and  variable  nature 
of  the  climate,  would  permit.  Donald  Munro,  in  1549,  describes  lona. 
Mull,  and  other  islands  of  the  west,  as  '*fertil,  and  fruitful  ofcorne." 

The  Highlanders  have  been  charged  with  laziness  and  mismanage- 
ment of  their  farms,  from  a  stubborn  adherence  to  old  and  erroneous 
practices;  and  their  system  of  management  is  much  censured  by  South- 
ern farmers.  There  is,  doubtless,  some  truth  in  this  stigma;  but  when 
we  consider  the  disadvantages  of  climate  and  soil,  their  conduct  as  agri- 
culturists maybe  palliated.  The  husbandman  can  have  little  inducement 
to  lay  much  of  his  land  under  culture,  with  a  chance  of  his  hopes  being 
blasted,  and  his  labor  lost,  by  a  rigorous  season.  If  a  severe  frost  should 
kill  the  seed  before  it  has  arisen;  if  a  wet  summer  should  prevent  its 
ripening,  or  an  early  winter  should  destroy  the  crop,  the  loss  will  be 
easier  borne  the  less  it  is.  The  farmer  therefore  risks  but  a  limited 
quantity,  sowing  little  more  than  he  expects  to  want  for  use.  If  indo- 
lence exist,  it  is  surely  most  excusable  where  there  is  no  motive  for  ex- 
ertion; and  if  the  Highlanders  mismanage  their  farms,  few  others  would, 
be  found  willing  to  undertake  to  make  so  much  of  them.  It  is  believed 
by  those  best  able  to  form  a  correct  opinion,  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  find  any  other  people  to  inhabit  the  bleak  mountains  now  possessed 
by  the  Scotish  Gael.*  They  may  have  old-fashioned  notions,  and  awk- 
ward implements,  but  it  is  not  always  the  case  that  novelties  are  improve- 
ments, or  that  the  present  generation  are  in  all  things  wiser  than  their 
fathers.  Birt  acknowledged  that  "their  methods  were  too  well  suited 
to  their  own  circumstances,  and  those  of  the  country,  to  be  easily  amend- 
ed by  those  who  undertook  to  deride  them." 

Gaul,  says  Mela,  abounds  in  wheat  and  hay,  and  the  lands  of  the 
Germanni,  we  otherwise  know,  were  excellent  for  bearing  grain.  These 
nations  well  understood  the  art  of  fertilizing  the  earth,  and  it  is  an  une- 
quivocal proof  of  the  ability  of  the  Celtic  farmers,  and  of  their  attention 
to  agriculture,  that  they  discovered  the  use  of  margam,  or  marl,|  which 
they  imparted  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans. J  The  Haedui  and  Pictones 
of  the  continent  made  considerable  use  of  lime  to  improve  their  grounds,^ 
but  margam  was  in  universal  esteem.  The  obvious  advantages  of  its 
application  created  an  anxiety  to  discover  new  sorts,  yet,  according  to 
Pliny,  the  various  kinds  were  resolvable  into  two,  as  had  been  the  case 
from  the  first,  namely,  the  white  fat  marl,  and  the  heavy,  reddish  color- 
ed rough  sort,  which  was  called  capimarga,  or  accaunamarga.  Both 
kinds  would  retain  their  strength  in  the  ground  for  fifty  years.  || 

The  Britons  possessed  a  superior  knowledge  of  the  various  marls  and 
their  properties.     Their  chalky  sort  was  the  best,  which  retained  its 

^  Rose  of  Aitnach,  Agricultural  View  of  Sutherland. 

t  Marg,  margu,  marrow.    Whitaker.  t  Pliny,  xvii.  6. 

§  Pliny,  xvii.  8.  j]  Ibid.  7. 


MANURE. 


305 


strength  for  eighty  years,  so  that  no  man  was  ever  known  to  marl  his 
ground  twice  during  his  life.*  That  which  the  Greeks  called  Glischro- 
iiiargen,  resembling  Fuller's  earth,  was  used  for  grass  land,  and  kept 
its  vigor  thirty  years:  the  sort  called  Columbine,  the  Gauls  termed  Egle- 
copalam.  The  use  of  marl  appears  to  have  been  forgotten  for  a  long 
time  in  the  south  of  Britain:  one  of  the  Lords  Berkeley  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  who  revived  it.| 

The  people  beyond  the  Po  preferred  ashes  to  other  manure,  raising 
fires  for  the  purpose  of  producing  it;  but  it  was  not  used  for  all  crops, 
and  was  never  mixed  with  any  thing  else. J  The  Ubians,  a  German 
nation,  dug  their  lands  three  feet  deep,  a  mode  practised  by  no  other 
people,  and  not  equal  to  the  application  of  marl,  for  the  ground  required 
to  be  broken  up  again  in  ten  years. § 

Limestone  is  much  used,  but  sea  weed  is  the  common  manure  in  the 
isles  and  along  the  coast  of  the  Highlands.  The  very  objectionable  mode 
of  digging  up  the  surface  soil  of  the  upper  grounds,  to  mix  with  animal 
dung  as  a  manure  for  the  valleys,  is  visible  in  many  places.  The  High- 
landers convert  their  houses  into  good  manure.  As  they  are  chiefly 
formed  of  turf,  or  foid,  such  frail  tenements  are  only  inhabited  for  a 
short  number  of  years,  and,  when  they  are  taken  down,  the  materials, 
impregnated  with  smoke  and  soot,  become  a  very  useful  compost.  The 
method  by  which  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Kilda  prepare  their  annual  man- 
ure, is  singular,  and  apparently  confined  to  that  remote  island.  It  is 
composed  of  the  ashes  of  their  fires,  the  dung  of  their  cattle,  Stc.  which 
accumulate  on  the  floors  of  their  houses  during  their  long  and  dreary 
winter. 

The  ancient  method  of  conveying  manure  to  the  ground,  general 
throughout  Scotland,  but  now  confined  to  the  Highlands,  was  simple 
and  expeditious.  Two  semi-circular  creels,  or  baskets,  one  and  a  half 
or  two  feet  long,  formed  of  strong  wattle  work,  were  suspended  on  each 
side  of  the  horse,  by  means  of  ropes  made  of  the  pliant  twigs  of  the 
birch  or  willow,  and  affixed  to  the  clubbar,  or  saddle,  which  rests  on  the 
fleat,  or  summac,  a  sort  of  mat  composed  in  general  of  straw  and  rushes 
interwoven.  The  bottom  of  the  creels  are  attached  to  the  side  nearest 
the  horse  by  twig  hinges,  so  that  it  can  be  opened  and  closed,  being 
fastened  when  full,  by  means  of  sticks  which  are  slipped  into  nooses  at 
either  end  of  the  basket.  When  the  contents  are  to  be  discharged,  the 
sticks  of  both  baskets  are  simultaneously  withdrawn,  and  the  manure 
falls  to  the  ground,  but  to  do  this  properly  requires  peculiar  address, 
for,  should  one  side  be  discharged  before  the  other,  the  apparatus  is  in- 
stantly overturned,  to  the  great  merriment  of  the  other  laborers.  This 
method,  apparently  so  awkward,  is  yet  efficient,  and  is  performed  with 
celerity.  Six  loads  of  the  Highland  ponies  are  equal  to  a  cart  load,  and 
the  manure  is  more  equally  spread,  and  in  much  less  time,  than  by  carting. 


*  Pliny,  xvii.  7. 
t  Pliny,  xvii.  9 

39 


t  Berkeley  MS. 
§  Ibid.  8 


306 


SYSTEMS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


The  particular  systems  of  agriculture,  pursued  hy  the  ancient  Celts 
and  modern  Gael,  are  not  very  remarkable.  They  varied  a  little,  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  other  circumstances,  the  art 
being  pursued  with  simplicity,  but  with  considerable  success.  The  Ubi- 
ans,  we  have  seen,  dug  their  land  three  feet  deep,  which  was  more  than 
could  be  done  by  the  plough;  but  we  do  not  know  how  they  disposed  of 
the  stones,  where  numerous,  in  clearing  their  fields.  They  may  have 
accumulated  them  in  certain  places,  as  was  the  practice  in  Scotland, 
where  the  Draonaich  collected  them  in  numerous  small  heaps,  leaving 
the  intermediate  spaces  clear  for  cultivation.  This  is  observable  around 
all  the  sites  of  their  dwellings,  and  differs  from  the  later  practice,  which 
appears  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the  operation  of  ploughing,  the  stones 
being  thrown  on  each  side,  forming  alternate  ridges,  with  the  clear  land, 
and  denominated  rigs  and  baulks.  The  Welsh,  Cambrensis  informs  us, 
used  not  to  till  during  the  year  round,  as  in  other  places,  but  in  March  and 
April,  once  for  oats,  and  in  summer  twice.  For  wheat,  they  only  dug 
up  the  land  once  in  winter.  The  Irish  were  formerly  censured  for  their 
ill  management,  in  having  hay  and  corn  harvest  at  the  same  time.*  The 
unfavorable  climate  and  sterility  of  the  land  are  heavy  disadvantages  to. 
the  Highland  agriculturist.  From  the  mountainous  nature  of  the  count- 
ry, he  is  obliged,  in  many  parts,  carefully  to  turn  all  the  earth  into  one 
part,  forming  thereby  an  artificial  bed,  while  the  hollow  on  each  side 
serves  to  carry  off  the  water,  which  otherwise  would  wash  down  the 
scanty  soil.  The  ridges  are  called  in  the  Low  country  lazy  beds,  a 
name  not  very  applicable,  considering  the  labor  necessary  to  raise  and 
preserve  them  on  the  acclivity  of  steep  hills.  In  such  situations,  no 
other  plan  of  cultivation  could  possibly  be  adopted;  the  name,  however, 
is  often  appropriate,  when  such  beds  are  formed  where  the  uniform  depth 
of  soil  obviates  any  necessity  for  them.  These  spots  of  cultivation, 
scattered  over  a  rugged  hill,  have  a  singular  appearance. 

The  Highlander  might  certainly  improve  his  methods  of  cultivation, 
for  in  many  things  he  is  deficient.  The  ground  cannot  be  very  clean 
when  it  is  tilled  in  the  spring  only,  nor  can  it  be  very  productive  when 
not  subjected  to  proper  rotation  of  crops;  but  in  objecting  to  the  Celtic 
practices,  it  is  right  to  bear  in  mind  that  in  parts  of  the  island,  where 
natural  obstacles  did  not  check  improvement,  agriculture  remained  long 
in  a  state  of  great  rudeness.  Even  in  England,  the  farmers  continued 
extremely  ignorant,  and,  consequently,  unsuccessful.  In  the  reigns  of 
Edward  I.  and  II.  they  set  beans  by  hand,  and  leazed  the  seed  wheat 
from  the  ear  itself,  and  in  the  time  of  Richard,  they  had  not  adopted  the 
simple  and  efficient  mode  of  improving  pasture  by  penning  the  sheep 
progressively  over  the  field,  but  gave  themselves  the  trouble  of  carrying 
the  dung  in  small  quantities  from  a  distant  fold. 

The  harvest  of  the  ancient  Britons  was  by  no  means  late.  Caesar, 


Riche. 


SUPERSTITIONS.— AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS.  307 


according  to  the  calculation  of  Halley,  arrived  on  the  26th  of  August, 
and  the  crop  was  almost  all  cut  down,  only  one  field,  that  had  been  later 
than  usual,  being  observed  standing.  In  the  Highlands,  where  the 
climate  is  so  disadvantageous,  it  seems  unaccountable  that  the  inhabi- 
tants should  be  partial  to  late  sowing;  they  indeed  give  a  reason,  which 
may  be  allowed  its  weight,  without  however  proving  the  system  of 
management  to  be  good:  if  the  seed  was  put  earlier  in  the  ground,  the 
Highland  farmer  alleges  it  would  be  smothered  with  weeds. 

That  the  Highlanders  retain  several  old  and  ridiculous  superstitions 
respecting  their  agricultural  operations,  cannot  be  matter  of  surprise, 
when  their  more  refined  neighbors  in  the  Low  oountry,  and  the  inhab- 
itants of  England,  have  not  relinquished  equally  absurd  and  unmeaning 
observances.  In  the  most  flourishing  ages  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the 
farmers  were  incredibly  superstitious  regarding  the  seasons,  the  influence 
of  planets,  the  winds,  &c. 

The  Highlanders  think  the  moon  ripens  their  corn  as  much  as  the  sun 
does.  This,  like  most  popular  beliefs,  is  founded  on  experience,  although 
the  effect  is  erroneously  deduced.  In  clear  and  settled  weather,  when 
the  moon  is  unclouded  by  night,  as  the  sun  is  by  day,  the  crop  must 
obviously  ripen  well.  A  superstition,  lately  very  prevalent,  seems  to 
have  originated  in  the  times  of  paganism.  It  was  the  custom  throughout 
Scotland  to  leave  a  portion  of  land  untilled,  which  was  called,  "  the 
good  man's  croft,"  or  "  the  old  man's  fold,"  a  practice  which  the  Elders 
of  the  Kirk,  in  1594,  exerted  their  utmost  influence  to  abolish,  *  without 
effect.  This  hallowed  spot  is  believed  to  have  been  the  place  where  the 
Druids  invoked  the  divine  blessing  on  the  corn  and  cattle  of  the  owner, t 
or  where  he  himself  sacrificed  for  an  abundant  crop. 

In  noticing  the  various  implements  used  by  the  Celtic  agriculturist,  it 
will  be  seen  that  he  possessed  many  ingenious  articles  that  are  gener- 
ally supposed  the  invention  of  later  ages.  The  Plough  was  used  by  the 
Gauls  in  their  agricultural  operations,  and  was  called  Planarat,  Plum- 
arat,  or  more  probably,  as  commentators  have  observed,  Pflugradt.J 
The  Celtic  plough  was  very  ingeniously  constructed,  for  it  was  provided 
with  two  small  wheels,  and  the  shares  were  large  and  broad,  turning  up 
large  turfs  and  casting  a  good  furrow. §  The  practice  was  to  make  but 
two  or  three  bouts  and  as  many  ridges,  and  one  yoke  of  oxen  were  able 
to  prepare  forty  acres  of  good  land.^  This  seems  to  resemble  the 
alternate  ridges,  which  the  old  Scots  formed,  by  their  manner  of  ploughs 
ing,  which  received  the  descriptive  appellation  or  rigs  and  baulks.  The 
plough  was  very  early  in  use  among  the  Britons,  if  we  could  trust  the 
relation  of  Geoffry  of  Monmouth,  who  says,  Dunwallo,  a  prince  who 
flourished  500  years  before  Christ,  was  a  great  encourager  of  agriculture, 
which  he  seems  to  have  considered  as  an  occupation  connected  with 
religion.  A  law  assigned  to  him,  enjoins  the  ploughs  of  husbandmen, 

*  Arnott's  History  of  Edinburgh.  ^  t  Rev.  Mr.  Johnstone,  of  Monlquhiter. 
t  Phny,  xviii.  18.  ed.  Lugd.  1663.  §  Ibid. 


308 


AGRICULTURAL  LMPLEMENTS. 


and  the  temples  of  the  gods  to  be  sanctuaries.  Eltud,  or  Iltutus,  im- 
proved agriculture,  and  taught  the  art  of  ploughing,  until  which  time  the 
land  was  dug  with  the  spade  and  pickaxe  in  the  Irish  manner,*  and  no 
man  was  allowed  to  use  a  plough  who  could  not  make  one.  The  ropes, 
or  harness,  were  to  be  made  of  twisted  willows;  and  it  was  not  unusual 
for  six  or  eight  individuals  to  associate  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
themselves  with  this  implement,  and  for  their  regulation  many  curious 
laws  were  enacted. "j"  The  old  Irish  plough  was  drawn  by  five  or  six 
horses  yoked  abreast,  and  five  men  were  required  to  conduct  the  opera- 
tion.J  In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  ten  shillings  annually 
were  exacted  for  permitting  the  use  of  their  "short  ploughs,"  which 
were  drawn  by  the  horse's  rump,  a  practice  not  altogether  unknown 
among  the  Highlanders,  among  whom  it  was  common  to  break  a  colt  by 
tying  a  harrow  to  his  tail.  The  Irish  were  so  fond  of  this  barbarous 
custom,  that  they  petitioned  the  Deputy  to  be  allowed  to  continue  it 
without  being  taxed;  but  they  were  answered  that  the  law  was  not  so 
severe  as  in  1606,  when  a  garron  was  the  penalty  for  the  first  year's  use 
of  one  plough  in  that  manner,  and  for  the  second  year  two;  and  as  the 
practice  occasioned  the  loss  of  so  many  horses,  it  was  necessary  to- 
abolish  it.§  The  Irish  are  described  by  Spenser  as  "  great  plowers,  and 
small  spenders  of  corne." 

In  many  places  of  Gaelic  Scotland,  a  small  plough,  called  a  ristle,  is 
used,  and  employed  to  precede  the  larger  sort.  Its  chief  peculiarity  is 
the  culter,  shaped  like  a  sickle,  to  cut  along  the  turf.  In  these  parts 
deep  ploughing  is  avoided,  on  account  of  the  high  winds  to  which  they 
are  subject,  and  which  sometimes  blow  both  seed  and  soil  away. 

The  old  Thraple  plough  is  now  seldom  to  be  seen,  except  in  the 
remote  Highlands,  or  in  the  Orkneys.  In  Argyleshire,  it  continued  to 
be  used  on  some  farms  about  twenty  years  ago,  but  was  fast  giving  way 
to  the  more  improved  manufacture.  In  some  places  it  was  called  the 
Rotheram  plough,  and  was  rude  and  simple  in  its  construction,  and 
awkward  in  its  management.  It  was  entirely  composed  of  wood,  with 
the  exception  of  the  culter  and  sock,  and  had  but  one  stilt.  It  was 
drawn  by  four  garrons  or  oxen,  yoked  abreast  to  a  cross  bar;  which  was 
fastened  to  the  beam  by  thongs  of  raw  hide  or  ropes  of  hair;  and  he  who 
managed  the  stilt,  held  it  close  and  firm  to  his  right  thigh,  to  protect 
which  he  had  a  sheep  or  other  animal's  skin  wrapped  around  it.  To  keep 
the  plough  sufficiently  deep  in  the  earth,  a  person  was  required  to  press 
it  down,  while  another  performed  the  office  of  driver  by  placing  himself 
between  the  two  central  animals,  where  he  walked  backwards,  ||  protect- 
ing himself  from  falling  by  placing  both  arms  over  their  necks.  The 
mould-board  was  ribbed  or  furrowed,  in  order  to  break  the  land,  and  old 
people  declare  that  the  soil  yielded  better  crops  after  being  ploughed  in 

*  Triad,  56.  t  Leges  Wallicse.  t  Riche. 

§  Des.  cur.  Hib.  Ulster  paid  £870  of  this  tajc. 

II  Gir.  Camb.  describes  the  Welsh  ploughman,  likewise,  as  walking  backwards. 


CASCROM.— CASDIREACH 


309 


this  manner  than  it  does  by  the  modern  practice.  The  supposition  is, 
that  by  the  old  method  the  soil  was  more  equally  broken  up. 

That  excellent  instrument  the  cascuoim,  literally  crooked  foot,  a  kind 
of  foot  plough,  which  the  Highlanders  can  manage  with  great  dexterity, 
and  which  is  too  little  known,*  is  still  used  in  mountainous  districts,  and, 
from  its  excellent  adaptation  to  the  culture  of  rugged  and  steep  hills,  where 
a  plough  cannot  be  used,  is  not  likely  ever  to  be  superseded  by  any  im- 
provement. With  the  same  labor  it  will  perform  nearly  double  the  work 
of  a  spade.  It  consists  of  a  strong  piece  of  wood,  five  to  seven  feet  in 
length,  bent  between  one  and  two  feet  from  the  lower  end,  which  is  shod 
with  iron  fixed  to  the  wood  by  means  of  a  socket.  The  iron  part  is  five 
or  six  inches  long,  and  about  five  inches  broad.  At  the  angle,  a  piece 
of  wood  projects  about  eight  inches  from  the  right  side,  and  on  this  the 
foot  is  placed,  by  which  the  instrument  is  forced  diagonally  into  the  ground 
and  pushed  along,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  vignette.  By  a  jerk  from 
the  shaft,  which  acts  as  a  powerful  lever,  eight  or  ten  inches  in  breadth 
of  the  soil  is  raised  from  a  depth  of  eight  to  twelve  inches,  according  to 
circumstances,  and  dexterously  thrown  to  the  left  side.  Eight,  ten,  or 
a  dozen  of  men  are  sometimes  employed  working  with  the  cascrom. 
They  arrange  themselves  in  a  line  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  with  their 
backs  to  the  acclivity,  and  with  surprising  rapidity  turn  over  the  rough 
and  scanty  soil,  forming,  in  their  operations,  an  extended  cut  or  trench, 
like  a  plough-furrow.  This  is  repeated  as  they  gradually  ascend  the 
hill  backwards,  and  the  land  so  labored  is  very  productive.  One 
active  man  can  turn  more  in  a  day  with  this  instrument  than  four  men 
with  common  spades.  Munro  describes  Tarnsay  and  other  islands,  in 
1549,  as  "  weil  inhabit  and  mariurit;  hot  all  this  fertill  is  delved  with 
spaides,  excepting  sa  meikell  as  ane  horse-plough  will  teil,  and  zet  they 
have  maist  abundance  of  beir  and  meikell  of  corne." 

The  Casdireach,  or  spade  with  a  straight  handle,  is  also  in  consider- 
able use.  The  Manx  have  an  implement  similar  to  this,  furnished  with 
an  iron  spur  for  placing  the  foot  upon;  it  is  about  four  inches  wide  at 
the  end,  and  well  adapted  for  rough  and  stony  ground.  Serviceable 
spades  are  formed,  in  the  North,  of  fir-wood  shovels,  imported  from 
Norway  in  exchange  for  meal,  and  afterwards  shod  with  iron. 

The  spade  used  for  casting  or  cutting  turf  for  building  or  covering 
houses,  &c.  called  also  the  divot,  and  the  flaugter  spade,  is  a  sort  of 
breast  plough,  used  by  a  person  who  presses  his  body  with  all  his  strength 
against  it,  forcing  it  before  him,  and  nicely  cutting  off  the  grassy  or  short 
heathy  surface  of  the  ground.  The  laborer  protects  his  thighs  by  a 
sheep's  skin,  or  several  folds  of  plaid,  hung  like  an  apron  before  him,  and 
will  cut  nearly  1000  turfs  per  day.  It  may  be  noticed  that  in  the  Low 
country,  the  Highlanders  are  esteemed  the  best  laborers  at  trenching  or 
other  hard  agricultural  work.    The  Gaulish  method  was  to  sow  immedi- 


*  Sir.  John  Sinclair. 


310 


MODE  OF  REAPING. 


ately  after  the  plough,  and  cover  the  seed  by  means  of  harrows,  aftei 
which  the  land  required  no  more  weeding.  These  harrows  were  fur- 
nished with  iron  teeth.  In  the  Isle  of  Lewis  there  was  formerly,  if  it 
does  not  still  exist,  a  peculiar  sort  of  harrow.  It  was  small,  and  provided 
with  wooden  teeth  in  the  first  and  second  bars,  to  break  the  soil; 
m  the  third  was  fastened  heath  to  smooth  it,  and  a  man  dragged  it 
along  by  means  of  a  strong  hair  rope  across  his  breast.  Iron  teeth  are 
seldom  used  in  the  Highlands,  because  they  bury  the  seed  too  deep  in 
the  earth,  which  wooden  ones,  from  their  lightness,  do  not. 

While  the  Romans  reaped  their  corn  with  a  sickle,  the  Gauls,  whose 
fields  were  remarkably  large,  went  to  work  in  a  more  expeditious  manner, 
and  cut  down  their  crops  by  means  of  a  scythe,  used  by  both  hands,  an 
implement  for  which  we  thus  seem  to  be  indebted  to  these  people,  who 
appear  to  have  been  more  anxious  to  finish  their  labors  as  quickly  as 
possible  than  desirous  of  executing  their  work  nicely,  for  they  did  not 
cut  close,  but  rather  mowed  down  the  tops.*  They  had  also  another 
ingenious  method  of  cutting  down  their  largest  fields,  which  shows  not  a 
little  perfection  in  the  mechanical  arts.  A  large  machine,  resembling  a 
van,  was  constructed,  in  which  the  horse  was  yoked  so  as  to  push  it' 
before  him.  The  sides  were  furnished  with  sharp  teeth  or  knives,  and 
this  carriage  being  driven  into  the  field,  the  ears  of  corn  were  cut  off, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  were  thrown  into  the  body  of  the  car,  which 
was  made  to  receive  them  If  Giraldus  says  the  Welsh  reaped  with 
an  instrument  like  the  blade  of  a  knife,  and  a  wooden  handle  at  each 
end.  In  the  Scillies,  the  corn  is  reaped  with  sickles,  but  it  is  all 
laid  down  regularly  as  it  would  be  by  a  scythe. J  The  Britons  were 
as  regardless  of  the  straw  as  the  Gauls,  reaping  their  corn  by  cutting 
off  the  ears  only. 

The  harvest  work  in  the  Highlands  is  performed  in  a  very  creditable 
manner.  The  women  are  the  chief  reapers,  and,  in  the  words  of  Mr. 
Marshall,  who  drew  up  the  Agricultural  Report  of  the  central  Highlands, 
they  cut  it  "low,  level,  and  clean,  to  a  degree  I  have  never  before 
observed."  Lint  also,  which  is  said  to  be  a  late  introduction  to  the 
Highlands,  is  allowed  to  be  a  well-managed  crop.  It  is  carefully  weed- 
ed by  the  women  on  their  hands  and  knees.  In  so  variable  and 
unpropitious  a  climate  as  that  of  the  north  of  Scotland,  much  care  was 
required  in  guarding  the  crop  from  injury  when  growing,  and  after  it 
was  reaped.  In  Sutherland  and  Caithness,  the  Highlanders  had  observ- 
ed that  if  the  hoar  frost  remained  on  the  corn  when  the  sunbeams  of  the 
morning  first  struck  upon  the  crop,  it  became  blighted;  they  were 
theiefore  accustomed  to  go  to  their  fields  before  the  sun  arose,  and  with 
a  rope  made  of  heath,  held  by  a  person  at  each  end,  and  pulled  along 
the  top  of  the  corn,  the  frost  was  shaken  off.  The  usual  method  of 
Oiling  the  corn  in  shocks,  consisting  of  twelve  sheaves,  prevails  in  the 


*  Pliny,  xviii  28. 


i  Pliny,  c.  30. 


i  Troutbeck. 


GRANARIES. 


311 


Highlands,  but  in  some  of  the  Northern  counties  it  was  preserved  in 
small  round  heaps  resembling  beehives,  which  were  well  thatched 
all  round,  and  denominated  bykes.*  The  sheaves  are  also,  in  many 
parts,  set  up  singly.  It  is  usual  to  have  the  upper  parts  of  the  gables  of 
barns  formed  of  wattle  work,  so  constructed  as  to  throw  off  the  rain  and 
admit  a  thorough  draft  of  air,  a  most  judicious  plan  in  a  climate  so  wet. 
It  would  have  been  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  husbandmen  of  former 
years,  in  more  favored  parts  of  the  country,  to  have  had  similar  buildings, 
for  want  of  which  they  were  obliged  to  keep  the  corn  on  the  ground  as  long 
as  they  possibly  could.  In  1358,  an  inundation  in  Lothian  swept  away 
the  sheaves  that  were  laid  out  to  dry  at  Christmas  eve!  "f  It  is  to  dry 
hay  and  corn  that  the  spacious  and  elegant  barns  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle 
were  erected  in  Glenshira. 

The  Britons  laid  up  the  corn  in  the  ear,  and  preserved  it  in  subterra- 
neous caves  or  granaries, J  a  practice  also  of  the  Celtiberians.  They 
deposited  it  in  pits  from  which  the  damp  and  air  was  carefully  excluded, 
and  in  these  receptacles  wheat  so  preserved  remained  fresh  and  good  for 
fifty  years,  and  millet  for  even  more  than  100.§  The  Thracians  stored 
up  their  grain  in  similar  vaults,  and  in  the  ear  also,  which  Pliny  recom- 
mends as  the  best  method  of  preserving  it. 

Throughout  Scotland,  but  especially  in  Highland  districts,  are  found 
subterraneous  buildings  of  rude  but  substantial  formation.  These  are 
the  eird  or  earth-houses  before  noticed,  built  of  loose  stones,  and  cover- 
ed with  large  flags,  which  may  have  often  served  as  the  hiding-places 
of  the  natives,  but  were,  in  most  cases,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe, 
the  places  where  the  grain  of  the  inhabitants  was  deposited  for  security. 
The  remarkable  number  of  earth-houses  at  Kildrummy  has  been  refer- 
red to.  All  these  subterraneous  apartments  are  accompanied  by  a  sort 
of  square  inclosure  or  space,  level,  and  somewhat  lower  than  the  sur- 
rounding ground,  and  by  noticing  these  places,  one  is  often  able  to  dis- 
cover the  caves;  which,  from  examination,  were  evidently  the  storehouses 
of  the  ancient  inhabitants.  Many  of  the  inclosures  have  been  cleared 
out,  and  numbers  of  hand  mill-stones  have  been  invariably  found.  That 
these  recesses  were  designed  chiefly  for  the  deposition  of  grain,  we 
may  safely  conclude  from  the  known  practice  of  the  Celtic  tribes, 
who  were  accustomed  to  take  from  their  stores  a  requisite  quantity  of 
grain  daily,  spending  their  time  in  the  woods  hunting,  or  in  warfare. 
The  muirs  of  Achindoer  and  Kildrurnmie  were  eligible  positions  for  the 
granaries  of  surrounding  tribes,  being  warm  and  champaign,  inclosed  by 
lofty  ridges  of  hill,  and,  as  it  were,  just  within  the  mountains.  They 
were  not  less  favorably  situated  for  cultivation;  and  to  this  day  "  Kil- 
drummie  oats"  are  esteemed  before  others  in  the  Northern  counties.  To 
these  plains  the  natives  resorted  for  their  daily  supplies  of  corn,  which 
they  always  ground  for  immediate  use. 

*  Pen.  i.  202.  t  Fordun.  xv.  21. 

t  Diod.  V,  §  Varro. 


312 


THRASHING— WINNOWING. 


Those  remarkable  hollows  on  the  borders  of  Wilt  and  Somerset  shires, 
called  Pen  pits,  are  most  singular  remains  of  former  ages.  A  space 
comprising  more  than  700  acrbs  has  been  excavated  into  pits,  in  shape 
like  an  inverted  cone;  and  various  conjectures  have  been  formed  as  to 
the  purpose  for  which  so  numerous  and  close  an  assemblage  was  intend- 
ed. As  hand  mill-stones  have  been  found,  I  believe,  in  all  that  have 
been  examined,'  and  as  the  situation  is  so  dry  that  no  water  has  ever 
been  known  to  stagnate  in  them,  it  appears  probable  that  Pen  pits  were 
the  store-houses  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  who  lived  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  and  who  in  this  place  had  their  common  granaries,  whence  they 
supplied  themselves  as  occasion  might  require. 

The  most  early  method  of  separating  the  grain  from  the  straw  was  by 
means  of  cattle,  who,  by  repeatedly  treading,  effected  the  object.  This 
was  the  mode  in  practice  among  the  Jews  in  most  ancient  times,  and  the 
Romans  either  trampled  their  corn  in  the  same  manner,  or  pressed  it 
with  the  tribula,  a  sort  of  dray  made  of  rough  board.  The  Gauls  and 
Britons,  however,  used  a  Flail,*  which  performed  the  work  much  better, 
and  in  much  less  time.  This  implement  was  introduced  in  Italy  about 
fifty  years  before  Christ,  but  the  Roman  husbandmen,  notwithstanding 
the  encouragement  given  to  agriculture,  were  inferior  to  the  Gauls,  for 
they  continued  to  use  their  oxen  in  treading  out  their  grain,  to  whose 
assistance  a  roller,  or  heavy  stone  was  added, "f"  being  the  only  improve- 
ment made  on  the  old  plan,  and  the  awkward  practice  is  retained  to  the 
present  day, J 

The  inhabitants  of  Scotland  continue  to  use  the  flail,  where  thrashing 
mills  have  not  been  erected,  and  where  mills  or  farm  houses  are  not 
provided  with  winnowing  machines,  the  chaff  is  separated  from  the  grain 
by  sifting  it  in  the  open  air,  when  the  weather  permits,  or  between  the 
opposite  doors  of  a  barn,  the  draft  of  air  carrying  aside  the  lighter  parti- 
cles. Some  of  these  buildings  are  constructed  of  an  angular  form,  in 
order  to  catch  the  wind  blowing  from  any  point.  The  Waight,  guil,  an 
implement  for  winnowing,  is  a  sheep-skin,  the  wool  being  removed,  of 
about  one  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter,  stretched  on  a  hoop,  like  that  on  a 
drum  head.  In  these  the  corn  is  exposed  to  the  wind,  and  the  chaff 
blown  away,  a  light  work,  which  the  Highlanders  commit  to  the  women. 

The  most  obvious,  and  consequently  the  first  practised,  method  of 
reducing  grain  to  flour,  for  the  composition  of  bread,  is  by  simple  pound- 
ing. The  Gauls  had  early  arrived  at  the  art  of  grinding  their  corn  by 
a  hand  mill,  which  was  also  used  by  the  Britons  before  they  were  visited 
by  the  Romans.  This  people,  otherwise  so  greatly  advanced  in  civ- 
ilisation and  refinement,  had  not  altogether  discontinued  the  practice 
of  bruising  and  pounding  their  grain,  even  in  the  time  of  Vespasian.^ 
The  hand  mill  is  of  great  antiquity,  as  appears  from  many  passages  in 
the  Scriptures.    Pausanias  ascribes  its  invention  to  Myleta,  the  son  of 

*  Whitaker. 

t  Blunt's  Vestiges  of  Ancient  Manners,  p.  2()9. 


t  Colum.  li.  22. 
§  Pliny. 


I 


GRADDANING.— CORN  MILL.— THIRLAGE. 


313 


Lelex.  That  of  the  British  tribes  was  called  Quern,  and  in  Scotland, 
where  its  use  is  still  by  no  means  rare,  it  retains  the  same  name.*  Grind- 
ing by  the  hand  stone  appears  very  awkward  to  those  who  are  accustomed 
to  good  machinery,  for  it  takes  two  women  four  hours  to  grind  a  bushel, 
and  it  is  to  this  work  which  Barnaby  Riche  alludes,  when  he  says  that 
the  women  in  the  North  of  Ireland  ground  their  corn  "  unhandsomely." 
The  manner  of  preparing  the  grain  for  the  quern  was  called  Graddaning, 
a  term  which  comes  from  grad,  quick;  but  Jamieson  derives  it  from  the 
Norse  word  gratti,  descriptive  of  the  grit  stone,  of  which  the  quern  was 
made,  whence  are  the  Danish  gryte,  to  grind;  the  English  grits,  German 
grout,  Swedish  groet,  and  Scots  grots  and  crowdy.  The  process  was 
thus  conducted.  A  woman  sitting  down  takes  a  handful  of  corn,  which 
she  holds  by  the  stalks  in  her  left  hand.  She  then  sets  fire  to  the  ears,  and 
being  provided  with  a  stick  in  her  right  hand,  she  dexterously  beats  off 
the  grain  at  the  very  instant  when  the  husk  is  quite  burnt,  neither  allow- 
ing the  grain  to  be  injured,  nor  striking  before  it  is  ready  to  fall.  This 
practice  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  Western  Islands  and  most  remote 
districts  of  the  main  land.  The  usual  method,  in  Badenoch  and  else- 
where, is  this:  the  corn  is  switched  out  of  the  ear  with  a  stick,  fanned  or 
separated  from  the  chaff,  and  put  in  a  Scots  pot  stuck  in  the  fire, 
while  a  person  keeps  turning  it  with  a  wooden  spatula,  called  speilag,  in 
the  same  manner  as  coffee  is  roasted  in  some  places.  This  manner  of 
preparation  is  called  araradh,  often  improperly  written  Eirerich.  "  I 
have  seen,"  says  a  gentleman  from  Laggan,  "  the  corn  cut,  dried 
ground,  baked,  and  eaten  in  less  than  two  hours."  A  laborer  returning 
from  his  day's  work  carried  home  as  much  corn  in  the  sheaf  as  he  re- 
quired for  his  supper  and  next  day's  provision. 

The  water  mill  is  believed  to  be  an  invention  of  the  Romans,  and 
communicated  by  them  to  the  Britons;  we,  however,  read  that  Coel, 
grandson  of  Caradoc  ap  Bran,  first  made  "  a  mill,  wheel  with  wheel." 
The  Gael  of  Albion  were  earlier  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  mill  ma- 
chinery than  those  of  Erin,  for  about  the  year  220  Corniac  Mac  Art, 
King  of  Ireland,  sent  notice  to  carpenters  from  Albin  to  make  for  him  a 
mill.l  The  horizontal  mill,  in  Shetland  called  a  tirl,  and  used  in  some 
parts  of  the  Highlands,  is  a  very  simple  piece  of  machinery. 

There  was  usually  a  mill  on  each  barony,  and  the  Laird,  to  secure 
the  multure  or  miller's  fee,  was  solicitous  to  break  the  querns.  The 
miller  on  every  Lairdship  had  usually  a  croft  for  his  support,  besides  the 
legal  multures  and  sequels,  i.  e.  the  perquisites  of  the  miller  and  his  man. 
In  Scots'  law,  thirlage  is  the  servitude  by  which  lands  are  astricted  to  a 
particular  mill,  being  bound  to  have  their  corn  ground  there  on  certain 
terms.  The  district  or  lands  thus  bound  are  termed  the  sucken,  and  the 
payments  are  the  multure  or  quantity  of  grain  or  meal  exacted  by  the 
heritor  or  his  tacksman,  and  the  sequels  or  those  quantities  given  to  the 
servants  under  the  names  of  knaveship,  bannock,  and  lock,  or  gowpen. 

The  quern  is  still  used  in  the  Scillies  t  Keating. 

40 


314 


MODES  OF  CARRIAGE. 


In  the  Highlands  the  thirle  is  called  siucam,  and  the  multures  are  term 
ed  cis.    The  tenant  paid  a  certain  measure  out  of  every  boll  to  the  chief, 
half  that  measure  to  the  miller,  and  a  quarter  to  the  gille-nmllin,  or 
miller's  man. 

The  Gauls  refined  or  sifted  the  flour  by  sieves  of  horse  hair,  which 
were  their  own  invention,  and  the  Celtiberians  improved  on  the  discove- 
ry, by  making  two  sorts,  both  formed  of  fine  linen.* 

The  British  tribes  were  sufficiently  skilful  to  construct  cars  of  superior 
workmanship  for  war,  and  had  evidently  machines  for  the  purposes  of 
traffic,  but  it  does  not  appear  how  far  they  made  use  of  those  conveyan- 
ces in  their  agricultural  operations.  In  Caledonia,  the  mountainous 
nature  of  the  cou  itry  almost  precluded  the  use  of  wheel  carriages.  All 
work  which  cou'd  not  be  performed  by  manual  labor  was  executed  by 
horses,  for  which  the  farmer  was  obliged  to  keep  considerably  more  than 
appeared  to  Lowland  farmers  compatible  with  good  management.  For 
this  they  are  still  condemned,  but  it  is  an  overstocking  which  is  unavoida- 
ble. In  1778,  on  a  Highland  farm,  where  one  hundred  and  ten  bolls  of 
oats,  and  thirty-six  of  bear,  were  sown,  there  was  not  a  wheel  carriage 
of  any  description.']'  A  wagon,  or  vehicle  where  the  thill  horse  does  not 
bear  the  weight,  is  well  adapted  for  the  Highlands,  where  it  seems 
unknown.  The  old  cart,  the  use  of  which  is  not  yet  entirely  discontinued, 
was  formed  wholly  of  wood.  The  wheels  were  of  ash  or  other  hard  wood, 
two  feet  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  three  inches  in  thickness,  and  were 
fixed  to  the  axle,  which  moved  with  them,  and  the  traces  were  fastened 
to  a  hoop  of  birch  wood  around  the  axle.  Between  the  trams  or  thills  a 
conical  basket  was  placed,  into  which  the  fuel  or  manure  was  put,  and, 
to  unload  the  carriage,  the  driver  had  a  method  of  oversetting  and 
replacing  it  with  great  facility.  The  Irish  car  appears  to  be  similar  to 
this  machine.  In  the  Isle  of  Man,  a  sort  of  sledges  are  used,  composed 
of  two  shafts,  widening  towards  the  end,  but  connected  by  five  or  six 
cross  bars,  and  dragged  along  the  ground.  Oxen,  it  has  been  stated  by 
a  respectable  author,  are  not  worked  in  any  part  of  the  Highlands.  The 
Welsh,  by  their  ancient  laws,  were  prohibited  from  using  any  other  animal 
for  the  plough.  A  usual  mode  of  conveyance  is  by  the  crubban,  a  trian- 
gular machine  formed  of  rods,  and  suspended  across  the  horse's  back  on 
each  side.  It  is  well  adapted  for  carrying  peats,  corn  in  sacks,  hay,  &c. 
A  sort  of  stout  creels,  of  a  similar  construction,  are  called  Rechailich, 
and  a  tradition  exists  that  the  stones  of  which  the  bridge  of  Dee,  near 
Aberdeen,  was  built,  about  1522,  were  conveyed  by  these  means.  A 
sort  of  saddle,  called  a  Clubbar,  formed  of  wood,  has  a  deep  notch  in 
the  top,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  rope  of  straw,  rushes,  or  heath,  to 
which  are  fastened,  on  each  side  the  horse,  a  basket  or  bag,  made  of 
straw,  rushes,  or  floss,  a  sort  of  reed,  and  woven  like  a  mat.  They 
are  of  an  oval  shape,  about  three  feet  wide  at  bottom,  and  two  and  a 
half  at  top,  being  about  one  foot  eight  inches  deep,  and  capable  of 


*  Pliny,  xviii.  11. 


t  Trans,  of  Highland  Soc.  i.  132. 


STATE  OF  HIGHLAND  TENANTRY. 


315 


•ontaining  half  a  boll  of  oats.  They  are  called  cazzies,  or  ceises,  and 
are  furnished  with  a  handle  or  fettle  at  each  end,  by  which  they  can  be 
carried,  and  have  two  straw  or  other  ropes  to  tie  the  mouth,  when  full. 
These  simple  and  convenient  articles  are  generally  made  during  the 
winter  nights;  they  will  last  two  years,  and  their  value  in  the  Northern 
counties  is  perhaps  fourpence  or  sixpence;  but  in  Badenoch,  where  they 
were  chiefly  employed  in  carrying  cheese  and  butter  from  the  sheelings, 
they  cost  more.  Highland  garrons  with  these  will  travel  through  tho 
most  rugged  paths,  each  fastened  to  the  tail  of  the  other,  however  many 
there  may  be,  attended  by  one  driver,  and,  when  unloaded,  the  halter 
of  the  foremost  is  tied  to  the  tail  of  the  last,  so  that  it  is  impossible  for 
*hem  to  stray,  as  they  can  only  move  in  a  circle.  This  mode  of  fasten- 
ing by  the  tail  is  thought  an  excellent  method  of  breaking  horses. 

To  conclude  this  chapter,  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  state  of  the 
old  Highland  tenantry  was  far  from  being  slavish  or  uncomfortable. 
Strangers  seldom  took  farms,  or  indeed  had  the  opportunity,  for  few  were 
ever  removed  from  their  ancient  possessions,  to  which  they  thought  they 
had  a  sort  of  prescriptive  right.  The  farm  tenants  of  modern  times  have 
generally  a  cow  on  the  common  pasture,  and  one,  or  one  and  a  half 
acres  of  land  for  vegetables,  with  the  privilege  of  cutting  grass  on  the 
bogs,  for  which  they  pay  a  rent  of  five  or  six  pounds.  The  freedom  of  a 
pastoral  and  agricultural  life  is  highly  favorable  to  a  military  spirit,  and  it 
did  not  escape  the  observation  of  the  ancients,  that  their  best  troops  were 
raised  in  the  country.  The  children  born  of  husbandmen,  says  Cato, 
are  the  most  valiant  and  hardy  soldiers,  and  the  most  intrepid.*  Tho 
late  war  e     ced,  in  the  case  of  the  Highlanders,  the  truth  of  his  remark 


*  Pliny,  xviii.  5. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OF  THE  FOOD  OF  THE  CELTS —THEIR  COOKERY,  LIQUORS,  MED- 
ICINAL  KNOWLEDGE,  HEALTH,  AND  LONGEVITY. 

There  was  no  scarcity  of  food  amongst  the  Celtse,  when  they  came 
under  the  observation  of  the  more  polished  nations  of  Europe,  and  their 
good  living  must  have  materially  assisted  in  producing  the  strong  limbs 
and  large  stature  for  which  they  w'ere  so  remarkable.  The  vegetable 
kingdom,  unimproved  by  horticultural  skill,  and  the  wild  herds  of  the 
forest,  afford  the  means  of  subsistence  to  mankind  in  the  first  stage  of 
civilisation;  but  the  nations  of  the  west  were  not  confined  to  these  pre- 
carious supplies,  having  long  before  the  commencement  of  our  era,  as 
may  already  appear,  pastured  numerous  flocks  of  cattle,  and  cultivated, 
with  success,  extensive  fields  of  corn.  To  this  general  observation  the 
state  of  some  of  the  remote  and  barbarous  tribes  will  indeed  be  an  ex- 
ception. Strangers  to  the  advantages  of  climate  and  intercourse  with 
more  refined  nations,  they  continued  in  primitive  rudeness,  unaffected 
by  commerce,  and  contented  with  their  savage  enjoyments;  but  the 
Gauls  were  far  removed  from  that  state  in  which  human  beings  are  under 
the  necessity  of  appropriating  the  coarse  fruits  of  the  forest  trees,  or  the 
wild  herbs  and  roots  of  the  field,  for  their  chief  subsistence.  They  were, 
as  has  been  shown,  supplied  with  abundance  of  venison  from  their  well- 
stocked  forests,  and  other  meat  from  their  tame  herds,  and  the  plenty 
which  filled  the  land  was  evinced  by  their  well-supplied  tables  and  con- 
tinued feasting,  which  were  the  theme  of  even  Roman  commendation. 
The  Aquitani  were  famed  for  their  sumptuous  and  frequent  entertain- 
ments,^^  and  the  Celtiberi  were  noted  for  being  particularly  nice  and 
curious  in  their  diet."!" 

Before  manners  have  been  changed  by  civilisation,  or  mankind  has 
emerged  from  a  state  of  nature,  the  savage  beings  subsist  on  the  coarse 
and  undressed  articles  of  food  which  they  may  be  able  to  procure. 
The  roots  of  the  field,  and  the  produce  of  the  forest  trees,  supply  a 


*  Marcellinus. 


t  Pliny. 


INDIFFERENCE  TO  FOOD. 


317 


ready,  though  precarious,  means  of  sustenance,  and,  consistent  with  the 
phm  hitherto  pursued,  it  will  be  inquired  ho\y  far  the  ancient  Celts 
depended  on  the  wild  productions  of  nature,  or  had  supplied  themselves 
with  vegetables  and  fruit,  improved  by  horticultural  industry. 

The  Germans,  according  to  Tacitus  and  Appian,  lived  chiefly  on  raw 
herbs  and  wild  fruit,  and  some  of  the  Britons,  also,  were  accustomed  to 
satisfy  the  cravings  of  hunger  with  the  same  unsavory  aliment  ;  but  this 
must  have  been  in  cases  of  necessity,  and  among  the  most  barbarous 
of  the  tribes,  for  they  certainly  had,  in  general,  ample  supplies  of  other 
food.  It  is,  besides,  found  that  nations  will  continue  the  use  of  the  hard 
fare  which  satisfied  their  fathers,  when  it  is  in  their  power  to  procure 
better  provisions,  as  the  Arcadians,  who  continued  to  eat  acorns  to  the 
time  that  the  Lacedemonians  warred  with  them  and  the  Celtiberi, 
who  used,  throughout  all  the  country,  to  serve  up  roasted  mast  as  a 
second  course, f  notwithstanding  they  had  all  sorts  of  flesh  in  plenty, 
and  were  not  obliged  to  use  this  plain  diet. J  The  Celts,  although,  as 
shall  be  shown,  they  by  no  means  disregarded  good  living,  seem  to  have 
considered  temperance  a  virtue,  being  moderate,  as  Diodorus  and 
Tacitus  express  themselves,  in  eating,  banishing  hunger  by  plain  fare 
without  curious  dressing.  This  race  have  ever  been  noted  for  their 
contempt  of  delicacies,  or  aversion  to  epicurianism,  and  their  ability  to 
bear  the  privations  of  hunger  and  fatigue.  It  has  been  found  that  the 
Highlanders  are,  when  surrounded  with  plenty,  more  sparing  in  their 
diet  than  others  ;  and  it  is  a  fact,  that  they  will  continue  a  whole  day 
at  laborious  field  work,  contenting  themselves  with  only  two  meals  of 
water  brose,  or  a  simple  mixture  of  oatmeal  and  water.  They  will  eat, 
says  Mrs.  Grant,  with  a  keen  appetite  and  sufficient  discrimination  ;  but 
were  they  to  stop  in  any  pursuit  because  it  was  meal  time,  growl  over  a 
bad  dinner,  or  exult  over  a  good  one,  the  manly  dignity  of  their  charac- 
ter would  be  considered  as  fallen  forever.  I  have  seen  a  piper  from 
"the  head  of  the  Highlands,"  at  a  sumptuous  dinner  on  St.  Andrew's 
day,  select,  from  the  various  choice  dishes  around  him,  plain  boiled 
sheep's  trotters  in  preference  to  any  thing  else! 

The  ancient  Celts  held  corpulence  in  so  much  abhorrence,  that  the 
young  men  had  a  girdle  to  determine  their  size,  and  if  they  were  found 
to  exceed  its  dimensions,  they  were  subjected  to  a  fine.  A  fat  paunch 
has  always  been  reckoned  a  great  misfortune  in  the  Highlands. 

Health  may  be  preserved  with  a  much  less  quantity  of  food  than  is 
generally  supposed  ;  for  repletion  is  more  inimical  to  the  system  than  a 
scanty  meal.  Martin  justly  observed,  that  if  among  the  Highlanders 
there  were  no  corpulent  persons,  none  bore  the  appearance  of  starvation. 
The  remark  is  still  applicable  ;  and  although,  from  their  hard  living  and 
frequent  exposure  to  the  severity  of  the  weather,  the  appearance  of  old 
age  is  seen  at  a  more  early  period  of  life  than  is  the  case  with  laborers 
in  more  favored  climes,  yet  they  live  equally  long,  if  not  longer,  enjoy 

*  Pausanias,  vii.  i.  t  Pliny,  xvi.  t  Diodorus. 


318 


VEGETABLES. 


as  good  health,  and  perform  as  much  work,  and  often  of  a  great  dea 
harder  nature.* 

The  Caledonians,  we  learn  from  Dio,  were  obliged,  when  in  the  woods, 
to  Uve  on  the  fruits  of  the  trees,  and  even  on  the  leaves  and  roots  of 
wild  herbs;  but  game,  the  chief  subsistence  of  an  uncivilized  people, 
formed  their  principal  food,  to  which  the  vegetable  kingdom  afforded  an 
estimable  accession.  In  the  woods  and  valleys  were  found  the  natural 
productions,  which  diversified  the  simple  meals  of  the  Celtic  nations,  and 
the  herbs  and  esculents  which  nature  had  spread  before  them,  they  were 
long  satisfied  to  gather  from  the  open  fields,  before  they  thought  of  culti- 
vating them  around  their  dwellings.  The  Britons,  in  distant  ages,  paid 
some  attention  to  this  useful  pursuit,  yet  many,  in  Strabo's  time,|  were 
totally  ignorant  of  horticulture.  The  vegetable  garden  of  the  ancient 
Celt,  we  may  believe,  was  but  scantily  stored;  the  natural  meadows  in 
the  vicinity  of  his  humble  dwelling,  and  the  mountain  wilds,  afforded 
him  a  sufficient  and  not  uninviting  supply.  In  summer,  the  Gael  could 
vary  his  repasts  by  many  sweet  and  wholesome  productions  of  his  native 
land;  he  could  gather  subhans  J  in  the  glen  and  avrons^  on  the  height;  in 
the  woods  he  could  find  various  fruits  and  nutricious  herbs — on  the  muirs 
he  could  pick  the  delicious  blackberry,  the  aromatic  aitnach,  the  lus- 
cious blaeberry,  and  many  others. 

A  people  occupied  in  pasturage  could  not  fail  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  value  of  different  vegetables,  either  as  human  food,  or  suste- 
nance for  their  herds.  Turnips  were  served  up  at  table  in  Gaul,  and 
were  given  to  the  cattle  in  winter,  a  part  of  rural  economy  which  we 
thus  see  is  far  from  being  an  improvement  of  modern  times.  ||  A  sort  of 
wild  carrot  was  known  in  almost  every  country.  The  kind  called  Dau- 
cus  grew  spontaneously  in  the  woods  of  Gaul  and  Britain,  and  was 
known  in  Italy  as  the  Gallic.  Leeks,  of  which  the  Welsh  are  reputed 
to  be  so  fond,  were  plentiful  in  the  Principality  in  the  fifth  century.  The 
old  Irish  made  great  use  of  watercresses,  sorrel,  and  scurvy  grass;  and 
even  shamrock  is  said  to  have  been  eaten  by  them.  The  poor  of  that 
country  were  often  obliged  to  make  such  articles  a  chief  part  of  their 
food.  In  1673,  they  are  represented  as  "  feeding  much  on  watercresses, 
parsneps,  potatoes,  and  sea  weed,"  and  Sir  William  Petty  describes 
them  as  using  potatoes  from  August  to  May,  a  pennyworth  of  cakes 
serving  an  individual  a  week;  to  which,  eggs  and  rancid  butter  were 
added  by  some;  others,  it  is  said,  used  a  preparation  of  curdled  milk  and 
horse's  blood,  and  those  who  lived  near  the  sea  gathered  mussels,  cock- 
les, and  oysters,  but  flesh  meat  was  seldom  seen  among  the  lower  order. 

*The  alleged  abstinence  of  some  ancient  nations  is  almost  incredible.    Pliny  tells  us 
the  SauromatSB  took  but  one  meal  in  three  days  !    Lib.  vii.  2. 
t  Lib.  iv.  p.  200. 

t  Strawberries,  used  in  the  Low  Countries  of  Mar  and  Banff  for  raspberries. 

§  Otherwise  oighreag,  the  cloudberry,  rubus  chamsemorus. 

II  Columella,  ii.  10,  p.  198,  edit.  1595  IT  Dio. 


VEGETABLES.— DAIRY . 


The  ancient  Gael  had  a  certain  vegetable,  of  which,  about  the  size  of 
a  bean  enabled  them  to  resist,  for  sonme  time,  the  effects  of  a  want  of  eithei 
meat  or  drink.  The  Highlanders,  at  this  day,  occasionally  use  an  article 
that  was  in  much  esteem  with  their  ancestors,  and  which,  if  not  the  above, 
seems  to  possess  similar  qualities.  The  root  braonan,  which  grows 
abundantly  in  the  country,  is  delicious,  and  very  nutritious  when  boiled. 
It  is  dug  from  November  t(^  April,  and,  when  dried  and  ground,  it 
makes  good  bread.  Many,  also,  chew  it  like  tobacco,  and  allege  that  it 
allays  the  sensation  of  hunger.  Pennant  confounds  this  with  the 
cor-mheille,  or  blue  button,  the  root  of  which  is  only  used  as  a  tonic. 
The  Scythians,  according  to  Pliny,  who,  it  must  be  confessed,  was 
credulous,  had  two  herbs  which  can  hardly  be  classed  among  those  used 
for  food,  although  they  appear  to  have  answered  as  most  valuable  sub- 
stitutes. One  received  its  name  from  the  people  among  whom  it  was 
found,  or  who  discovered  its  properties,  being  called  Scythica;  the  other 
was  called  Hyppici,  and  by  keeping  either  in  the  mouth,  the  want  of 
meat  or  drink  was  not  felt  for  a  considerable  time.*  A  knowledge  of 
these  excellent  articles  would  be  of  inestimable  value  to  hungry  wights 
in  the  civilized  society  of  the  present  day. 

Shunis,  or  Scots'  parsley,  is  much  valued  by  the  Highlanders,  who 
use  it  both  as  food  and  medicine.  The  vegetables  which  they  usually 
cultivated  were  cabbages,  onions,  carrots,  beans,  and  peas.  The  kale 
yard,  or  garden  for  the  vegetable.  Cole,  was  formerly  an  important 
adjunct  to  a  cottage  in  the  Lowlands,  but  since  the  introduction  of 
potatoes  it  is  in  less  esteem.  The  Highlanders,  about  one  hundred 
years  ago,  had  in  general  an  aversion  to  the  productions  of  the  kitchen 
garden.  The  Grants  appear  to  have  been  the  first  among  the  clans  who 
cultivated  the  above-noticed  vegetable,  and  they  are,  at  this  day,  often 
alluded  to  as  "the  soft  kale-eating  Grants."  The  old  Highlanders 
were  chiefly  carnivorous  and  lactophagious,  and  even  yet  they  are  indif- 
ferent to  the  use  of  vegetables.  The  kale  and  cabbage  which  they 
require  for  planting,  are  purchased  in  the  Low  Country.  Kale  seems 
derived  from  the  Latin,  Caulis,  a  stalk  or  stem,  but  the  original  plant 
does  not  appear  to  be  well-known. 

The  Celtge  paid  great  attention  to  the  management  of  the  dairy,  the 
produce  of  which  is  necessarily  a  principal  part  of  the  subsistence  of  a 
pastoral  people,  and  they  were  able  to  make  butter,  the  nature  of  which 
was  unknown  to  the  Romans.!  Pliny  describes  the  churn  as  "  longa 
vasa  angusto  foramine,"  but  althougli  a  handle  is  not  mentioned,  the 
cream  is  said  to  have  been  shaken.J  The  name  buyd  ur,  chief  or 
excellent  food,  is  believed  to  have  arisen  from  its  being  confined  to  the 
use  of  the  chiefs.^  The  better  sort,  who  were  thus  distinguished  from 
the  poor,  had  so  much  that  they  sold  of  it,|l  and  it  is  probable  that  the 

*  Pliny,  XXV.  8.  t  Pliny,  xxvii.  t  Ibid. 

§  Whitaker.  ||  Dalechamp.  Comment,  on  Pliny,  xxviii.  9. 


320 


BUTTER— CHEESE. 


nobles  received  butter  of  their  followers  as  a  perquisite.  In  Gaelic  it 
IS  called  Im. 

The  Irish  are  described  as  very  "  unmannerly  in  making  their  butter," 
and  the  process  is  certainly  not  likely  to  have  been  inviting  when  they 
thought  it  extremely  unlucky  ever  to  wash  their  milk  vessels,*  and  by 
a  practice  of  hiding  it  in  the  bogs  it  was  usually  rancid.  It  would  be 
unfair,  however,  to  let  it  appear  that  the  Irish  alone  were  addicted  to 
this  filthy  and  superstitious  practice,  for  in  some  parts  of  Scotland  I 
have  been  informed,  the  same  prejudice  exists,  or  did  exist,  which  is 
humorously  noticed  in  the  "  Cottagers  of  Glenburnie," — "  Do  you  not 
clean  the  churn  before  you  put  in  the  cream  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Mason 
*'Na,  na,"  returned  Mrs.  Mac  Clarty,  "that  wadna  be  canny  ye  ken. 
Na)body  hereabouts  wad  clean  their  kirn  for  ony  consideration.  1 
never  heard  o  sic  a  thing  in  a  my  life."  In  some  parts  of  the  High- 
lands the  gudewife  takes  the  following  method  to  procure  fresh  butter 
in  winter.  Salt  butter  being  mixed  with  sweet  milk,  in  the  proportion 
of  one  pound  to  the  chopin,  or  quart,  of  milk,  is  put  through  the  same 
process  as  cream  undergoes  in  a  small  churn:  the  butter,  consequently, 
becomes  sweet,  and  the  milk  turns  salt.  This  is  sometimes  practised 
by  the  Irish  also. 

The  Gauls  made  excellent  cheeses  :  they  were  highly  aromatic,  and 
Pliny  extols  them  as  medicinal.  The  best  of  those  at  Rome  were  pro- 
cured from  Nismes,  and  two  villages  in  the  Gevaudan.  They  were 
excellent  for  present  use,  but  were  not  made  to  be  kept  long.  Pliny 
expresses  his  surprise  that  some  nations,  who  thickened  their  milk  into 
a  pleasant  curd  and  rich  butter,  should  not  make  cheese  ;  |  an  igno- 
rance with  which  some  of  the  Britons  are  charged  by  Strabo.;|;  Cais  is 
the  proper  Gaelic  name  of  cheese — cabog,  the  Scots  kebbuck,  seems 
to  denote  the  shape.  The  process  of  making  cheese  in  the  Highlands 
has  been  before  alluded  to.  There  is  one  sort,  of  which  some  people 
are  very  fond,  called  cais  tennal,  or  gathered  curd,  which  is  thus  made  : 
— the  whey  being  pressed  from  the  curd,  it  is  put,  without  any  salt,  into 
a  damp  and  dark  place,  where  it  is  allowed  to  remain  for  fourteen  or 
twenty  days,  when  it  is  broken  down,  mixed  with  salt  in  the  usual  pro- 
portion, and  put  into  the  cheese  press,  becoming  ripe  for  use  in  six  or 
eight  months.  It  is  generally  made  of  sweet  milk,  but  cream  is  some- 
times added  when  the  salt  is  mixed  with  it.  Cheese  of  goat  and  ewe 
milk  is  only  used  by  the  poorer  people  ;  the  former  yields  scarce  any 
cream, — the  latter  makes  tolerable  cheese,  but  white  rancid  butter.  It 
was  usually  mixed  with  that  of  the  cow,  and  the  mixture  produced  the 
best  of  all  cheese.  Little  goats'  milk  is  now  to  be  seen  in  the  High- 
lands ;  and,  since  the  establishment  of  large  sheep  farms,  no  ewes'  milk 
at  all. 

A  great  accession  to  the  supply  of  food  is  procured  from  the  cultiva- 

*  Riche.  t  The  Germans  used  coagulated  milk.    Tae.  de  Mor.  Germano'-um 

t  Lib.  iv.  p.  200. 


BREAD. 


321 


tion  of  the  soil.  Panick  was  much  used  in  Aquitain,  and  formed  part 
of  the  food  of  all  the  Celtoe;  the  nations  on  the  Euxine  had  no  daintier 
meat  than  what  was  made  of  this  grain  ;  about  the  Po,  they  scarcely 
used  any  of  it  without  a  mixture  of  beans.*  Barley  gruel  was  in  com- 
mon use  among  the  Gauls.  In  Germany,  they  cultivated  oats,  and 
lived  much  on  gruel,  or  pottage,  made  of  it,  which  they  called  abre- 
mouz."!"  The  Japides,  a  Celtic  nation  in  Pannonia,  lived  chiefly  on 
oatmeal  and  millet.  The  Britons  used  the  panick,  which  was  first  cul- 
tivated by  the  Gauls;  and,  in  very  ancient  times,  were  accustomed  to 
take  as  much  grain  from  their  storehouses  as  would  serve  them  for  a 
day,  and  having  dried  and  bruised  the  grains,  they  made  a  sort  of  food 
for  immediate  use, J  The  Irish  and  ancient  Caledonians  pursued  the 
same  system,  and  among  the  remote  Highlanders  it  still  exists.  They 
bring  home  at  night  as  much  corn  in  the  ear  as  may  be  wanted  at  the 
time,  and  quickly  convert  it  into  meal  in  the  manner  described  in 
page  313. 

Eireirich,  or  araradh,  is  a  term  which  the  Highlanders  apply  both  to 
the  drying  of  corn  in  a  pot,  according  to  the  old  practice,  and  to  the 
grain  and  bread  so  prepared.  Giraldus  Cambrensis  says  the  Welsh 
lived  on  butter,  cheese,  &c.  with  plenty  of  flesh,  but  used  very  little 
bread.  The  Irish  ate  their  flesh  without  bread,  keeping  what  corn  they 
had  for  their  horses. §  An  assertion  that,  in  a  wild  part  of  Argyleshire 
there  was  no  bread,  until  some  strangers  arrived  and  taught  the  art  of 
baking,  is  certainly  untrue. |j  The  bread  of  the  Gauls,  who,  according 
to  Athenceus,  used  but  little,  was  superior  to  that  of  the  Romans,  from 
the  use  of  yeast  in  the  kneading  of  the  dough.  Their  knowledge  of 
brewing  enabled  them  to  procure  barm,  which  was  a  much  better 
ingredient  than  honey  or  eggs,  used  by  other  nations.  "When  the 
Gallic  and  Celtiberian  brewers  steeped  their  wheat  in  water,  and 
mashed  it  for  their  drink,  they  took  the  froth  that  collects  at  top,  and 
used  it  instead  of  leaven,  which  was  the  reason  that  their  bread  was 
always  lighter  than  any  other.  "IT 

Ovens  must  have  been  very  early  known  to  the  Britons,  from  the  dis- 
coveries of  baked  pottery;  but  if  applied  to  the  purposes  of  cooking, 
they  were,  probably,  confined  to  the  establishments  of  chiefs  ;  neverthe- 
less, the  Celtoe  excelled  in  preparing  their  bread,  which  Pliny  attests 
was  the  best  in  the  world.  It  was  baked  on  stones  placed  around  the 
fire,  which  the  Britons  denominated  greidiol  ;  and  Whitaker  says  the 
inhabitants  of  Manchester  retained  this  simple  mode  of  preparing  their 
bread  until  recent  times.  From  this  word  is  derived  the  Scotish 
girdle,  a  round  piece  of  iron  suspended  over  the  fire,  on  which  oat 
cakes  are  baked.  Amongst  the  most  rural  of  the  Scots,  the  "  cakes  " 
are  still  "  fired  "  in  this  manner,  and  are  called  bonnach  claiche,  or 

*  Pliny.  The  Sarmatians  lived  chiefly  on  pottage,  or  gruel  of  millet,  and  used  raw 
meal  mixed  with  the  milk  of  mares,  and  sometimes  with  the  blood  of  the  cattle. 

t  Ibid.  t  Diod.  v.  §  Campion.  |1  Birt.  IT  Pliny  xviii.  7 

41 


322 


BREAD.— COOKERY. 


rather  bonnach  lichde,  stone  cakes.  The  baking  of  this  family,  or 
household  bread  of  the  Scots,  has  not  yet  become  a  trade  ;  every 
guidwife  makes  her  own  cakes,  by  which,  as  the  agricultural  reporter 
of  the  Isle  of  Man  observes  of  the  people  of  that  interesting  island,  she 
is  independent  of  the  baker.  There  is  no  scarcity  of  bakers  of  wheaten 
bread,  but  oat  cakes  have  ^not  been  sold,  except,  perhaps,  in  the  lowest 
purlieus  of  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Aberdeen,  or  other  large  and  manu- 
facturing cities. 

Froissart  gives  us  a  curious  account  of  the  mode  in  which  the  Scots 
soldiers  were  anciently  accustomed  to  convert  their  meal  into  cakes. 
Observing  that  neither  knights  nor  squires  took  carriages  into  the 
field  with  them,  he  says,  "  every  man  carries  about, the  saddle  of  his 
horse  a  great  flat  plate,  and  he  trusses  behind  him  a  wallet  of  meal,  the 
purpose  of  which  is  this: — after  a  Scotisli  soldier  has  eaten  flesh  so 
long  that  he  begins  to  loathe  it,  he  throws  this  plate  into  the  fire,  then 
moistens  a  little  of  his  meal  in  water,  and  when  the  plate  is  heated  he 
lays  his  paste  upon  it,  and  makes  a  little  cake,  which  he  eats  to 
comfort  his  stomach.  Hence  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Scots  should  be 
able  to  make  longer  marches  than  other  men." 

The  occupations  of  baking  and  brewing  continued  to  be  performed 
by  women,  even  when  the  profession  had  become  public*  The  kings 
of  Scotland  had  bakers  and  brewers,']'  who  were,  like  most  professors 
among  the  Celtic  people,  hereditary,  and  were  in  high  estimation, 
holding  lands  in  reward  for  their  services. J 

Little  more  can  be  said  respecting  the  art  of  cookery,  or  the  various 
dishes  of  the  ancient  Celts.  The  Germans  ate  their  venison  fresh, ^ 
the  Gauls  occasionally  salted  it.[|  These  latter  also  used  great  quan- 
tities of  flesh  sodden  in  water,  or  roasted  on  the  coals  or  on  spits. TT 
They  had  abundance  of  provisions,  and  were  not  indisposed  to  improve 
their  food  by  culinary  process,  but  it  would  appear  they  preferred  plain 
joints,  and  feasted  with  more  delight  on  such  substantial  fare  as  "the 
roast  beef  of  old  England,"  than  on  soups  and  hashes,  so  much  esteem- 
ed by  their  French  posterity.  It  appears  from  Varro,  that  they  sent 
into  Italy,  sausages,  hogs'  puddings,  gammons  of  bacon,  and  hams. 
The  Celtic  women  carried  pots  of  pudding  into  the  baths,  which  they 
eat  along  with  their  children  while  they  washed,** 

The  British  tribes,  who  "  were  contented  with  plain  and  homely 
fare,"  were,  probably,  less  expert  in  the  art  of  cookery  than  those  of 
the  continent,  and  the  people  in  the  northern  division  of  the  island 
must  have  been  still  less  versed  in  the  science.  The  activity  of  their 
lives,  and  healthy,  robust  constitutions,  imparted  a  zest  to  their  rough 
and  scanty  meals,  which  epicures  wish  for  in  vain.    The  heroes  of 

*  When  making  bread  became  a  trade  at  Rome,  the  chief  bakers  were  women. — PJiny. 
t  Baxter  and  Brewster,  whence  the  family  names. 

t  Caledonia,  Robertson's  Index,  Sec.  §  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ.  H  Strabo. 

IT  AlhensBus.  **  Plutarch,  viii.  9. 


f 


CANNIBALISM.  323 

Lacedemon  lived  on  a  ceitain  black  broth,  so  unsavory  and  coarse  to 
those  of  more  delicate  taste,  that  a  citizen  of  Sybaris,  tasting  it,  said  he 
ceased  to  wonder  at  the  Spartan  contempt  for  death,  since  they  were 
obliged  to  live  on  such  fare.  The  observation  which  was  made  to  the 
tyrant  Dionysius  respecting  it  had  more  truth  but  less  wit  ;  "the  dish 
wants  the  sauce,"  remarked  the  cook.  "  What  sauce,"  asked  he. 
"  That  of  a  good  appetite,"  was  the  reply.  The  art  of  cookery  is, 
however,  of  more  importance  than  might  at  first  be  supposed,  and  Drs. 
Hunter  and  Kitchener,  Count  Rumford,  and  others  have  employed 
their  talents  in  this  useful  science  ;  but,  although  duly  appreciated,  it 
is  by  no  means  so  highly  esteemed  as  formerly.  In  the  middle  ages, 
the  master  cook,  provost  of  the  cooks,  Sec.  were  officers  of  dignity  and 
emolument,  and  the  king's  larderer,  was  often  a  clergyman  of  high 
rank.  His  Majesty's  cook  is  allowed,  by  the  laws  of  honor  and  prece- 
dence the  title  of  Esquire,  now  so  much  prostituted:  but  to  return  to 
the  food  of  the  ancient  Celts.  In  Dio's  account  of  the  expedition  of 
Severus,  the  food  of  the  people  beyond  Adrian's  wall  is  said  to  have 
been  the  milk  and  flesh  of  their  flocks,  what  they  procured  by  hunting, 
with  the  fruits  of  trees,  and  leaves  and  roots  of  herbs.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Thule  lived  chiefly  on  milk  in  summer,  and  on  fruit  in  winter. 
The  stature  and  strength  of  the  ancient  Caledonians  indicate  a  suffi- 
ciency of  food,  yet  they  appear  to  have  had  some  means  of  subsistence 
with  which  we  are  not  sufficiently  acquainted. 

The  Gauls  are  not  entirely  free  from  the  imputation  of  cannibalism. 
Those  who  went  into  Greece  with  Brennus,  according  to  Pausanias. 
drank  the  blood  and  ate  the  flesh  of  the  best  conditioned  infants  at  the 
breast.*  The  horrors  of  famine  may  be  an  excuse  for  so  revolting  a 
practice.  Those  who  resisted  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  were  reduced 
to  the  deplorable  necessity  of  living  on  the  bodies  of  the  aged  ;  and 
long  afterwards,  when  besieged  in  Alesia,  Critognatus,  the  command- 
ing general,  advised  his  adherents  to  imitate  their  ancestors  and  do  the 
same,  rather  than  yield, t 

The  testimony  of  St.  Jerome,  representing  the  Scots  or  Attacots  as 
cannibals,  is  well  known.  In  this  noted  passage  it  is  said,  that  when 
these  people  met  with  herds  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs,  they  were  wont 
to  select  the  most  delicate  parts  of  both  the  male  and  female  keepers  for 
their  repasts.  The  correctness  of  this  translation  has  been  questioned, 
and  the  meaning  asserted  to  be,  merely  that  they  preferred  the  rumps 
of  the  oxen,  and  udders  of  the  cows,  leaving  untouched  the  other  parts. 
I  am  afraid,  however  awkward  the  sentence  may  be,  "  pastorum  nates, 
et  feminarum  papillas,"  cannot  well  be  mistaken  ;  but,  with  deference 
to  the  Saint's  authority,  we  may  entertain  some  doubt  of  the  prevalence 
of  so  horrible  a  practice.  Diodorus  had  indeed  said,  that  those  nations 
who  were  towards  the  north,  bordering  upon  Scythia,  were  so  fierce  and 
savage  that  they,  according  to  report,  ate  men  as  the  Britons  who 

*  Lib.  X.  c.  22.  t  Bello  Gall.  vii.  71. 


324 


CANNIBALISM— FOOD. 


inhabited  Iris  did;  and  he  is,  unfortunately,  not  the  sole  authority  foi 
this  shocking  propensity  of  the  ancient  Irish.  Strabo  accuses  them  of  a 
gluttonous  indulgence  in  human  flesh,  and  says  they  did  not  hesitate  to 
eat  their  dead  relations,*  in  which  he  is  followed  by  Solinus,  who  repre- 
sents them  in  a  state  of  deplorable  barbarity.  Except  we  believe  that 
those  authors  were  misinformed,  or  exaggerated  the  vices  of  a  people  of 
whom  so  little  was  then  known,  it  is  to  be  feared  the  Irish,  who  claim  the 
Attacots  as  a  native  tribe,  must  take  them  with  this  imputation,  to  which 
their  ancestors,  from  concurring  authorities,  seem  more  certainly  obnox- 
ious than  the  Scots  of  Britam. 

It  will  scarcely  excite  surprise  that  this  idea  of  the  cannibalism  of  the 
Celts  should  have  prevailed  among  the  ancients,  concerning  a  people 
who  were  so  distant,  and  reputed  so  barbarous,  when  we  find  that,  so 
recently  as  the  rebellion  of  1745,  the  people  of  England  really  believed 
that  the  Highlanders  were  accustomed  to  eat  children,  a  fact  which  is 
attested  by  several  officers  of  the  Scots  army!  Mr.  Cameron,  of 
Locheil,  on  entering  a  house,  was  implored  by  a  woman  to  spare  her 
children;  and  on  his  assuring  her,  with  some  surprise  at  her  alarm,  that 
he  had  not  the  least  intention  of  doing  them  any  injury,  she  released 
them  from  a  closet  where  they  were  concealed,  telling  them  to  come  out, 
for  the  gentleman  would  not  devour  them!  Mr.  Halkston,  of  Rathillet, 
also,  in  inquiring  where  all  the  children  were,  as  none  could  be  seen, 
was  told  that  they  had  been  sent  out  of  the  way,  to  prevent  their  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  Highlanders,  who  were  believed  to  eat  human 
flesh !  I  Perhaps  the  good  folks  of  England  were  at  some  loss  to  conceive 
how  these  Highlanders  lived,  they  seemed  to  require  so  little  food.;|; 
They  did  not,  indeed,  obtain  very  large  rations  during  the  progress  of 
the  rebellion,  and  it  was  well  that  their  desires  were  moderate.  When 
the  Highlanders  of  former  days  took  the  field,  they  only  provided  them- 
selves with  a  small  bag  of  oatmeal:  in  1745,  they  often  had  nothing  else 
to  carry  them  through  their  toilsome  marches  than  a  little  of  this,  which 
they  ate  mixed  with  water,  morning  and  evening;  but,  to  them,  this  rough 
fare  was  no  privation.  The  ability  of  the  Highlander  to  endure  a  long 
abstinence  from  food  was  remarkable;  and  the  ancient  Caledonian  much 
excelled  his  posterity,  for  he  could  live  many  days  concealed  in  the 
marshes,  up  to  the  neck  in  water,  without  sustenance;  and  in  the  woods 
he  could  live  on  the  bark,  roots,  and  leaves  of  trees.  The  Scots  have 
always  been  an  abstemious  or  rough-living  people — a  quality  excellent 
for  soldiers.  Cromwell  complained  that  his  troops  were  ruined,  for 
'whom  the  Scots  were  too  hard  in  respect  of  enduring  the  winter's 
difficulty." 

The  usual  diet  of  the  present  Highlanders  is  milk  and  cream,  cheese, 
butter,  oat  and  barley  cakes,  and  mutton  or  goat's  flesh,  with  that  excel- 

*  Lib.  iv.  p.  20L  t  Memoirs  of  the  Chev.  Johnstone,  and  remarks  on  ditto. 

I  It  was  said  by  the  troops  who  so  ineffectually  pursued  them,  that  "  they  lived  by 
snuffing-  the  wind 


BROSE.—BROCHAN.—SUANS.— POTTAGE.— POTATOES.  326 


le  It  article,  potatoes.  They  also  have  meal  of  peas,  which  they  usually 
buy  unground,  and  which  they  use  with  milk  in  bread  and'  puddings.* 
When  at  the  Shealings  in  the  summer  months,  their  meals  in  general  con- 
sist of  curds  and  cream,  or  oatmeal  and  cream,  mixed  cold,  and  qualified 
by  a  glass  of  good  whisky.  In  times  of  scarcity,  which  have  frequently 
occurred  in  the  Highlands,  the  inhabitants  are  under  the  necessity  of 
bleeding  their  cattle  in  summer,  and  div^iding  the  coagulated  blood  into 
square  cakes,  they  boil  it,  and  eat  it  with  milk  or  whey.f 

Bruthuiste,  or  brose,  a  dish  said  to  be  of  Greek  derivation,  is  common 
all  over  Scotland.  In  the  most  simple  preparation,  it  is  merely  meal  and 
hot  water  mixed  together;  to  which  butter  is  added;  but  the  proper  way 
is  to  use  the  juice  of  cabbages  or  turnips  in  which  meat  has  been  boiled. 
The  Irish,  says  Campion,  "crammed"  oatmeal  and  butter  together. 
The  Highlanders  do  the  same  still,  forming  it  into  rolls  like  sausages, 
called  bodmear. 

Brochan  is  a  similar  preparation  to  oatmeal  gruel,  but  the  Gael  fre- 
quently add  onions,  and  sometimes  even  pounded  cheese.  Easoch,  or 
thin  brochan,  is  eaten  with  bannocks,  and  was  the  sole  winter  diet  of 
thousands  of  the  Highlanders  in  the  time  of  Martin. 

Sughan  is  the  suans  or  sowens  of  the  Low  Country,  being  the  juice 
of"  sids,"  or  the  siftings  of  oatmeal,  after  having  been  steeped  in  water 
until  it  has  acquired  a  slight  acidity.  In  the  process  of  making  sowens, 
a  peculiar  sieve  is  used  in  draining  the  liquid,  which  is  thin  and  white, 
and,  on  being  boiled,  acquires  a  starchy  consistency,  in  which  state  it  is 
usually  eaten  with  milk,  and  termed  lagan  by  the  Gael;  but  many  prefer 
it  "  knotted,"  or  half  boiled,  with  the  addition  of  butter,  a  little  sugar,  or 
treacle.  This  is  the  preparation  of  which  all  in  the  Low  Country  par- 
take on  the  morning  of  Yule  day  or  Christmas.  Cath-bhruich  is  sowens 
as  thin  as  brochan  —  acidulated  gruel,  one  of  the  most  healthy  prep- 
arations. 

Libhte,  or  pottage,  is  the  favorite  preparation  of  oatmeal  in  Scot- 
land. That  it  was  much  used  in  ancient  times,  appears  from  St.  Jerome, 
who  taunts  Celestinus,  a  native,  for  gorging  himself  with  Scots  pot- 
tage.J 

Drammack,  in  Gaelic  Tiorman,  is  oatmeal  and  a  little  salt,  sprinkled 
with  cold  water,  and  stirred  with  the  hand  until  the  whole  is  in  a  state 
of  adherence.  This  is  preferable  to  eating  the  meal  dry,  and  is  more 
agreeable  than  the  fuarag  or  crowdy,  which  is  a  thinnish  mixture  of 
meal  and  any  cold  liquid.  When  milk  is  at  hand,  the  crowdy,  to  save 
time,  is  preferred  to  drammack. 

Potatoes  have  been  a  fortunate  acquisition  to  the  Highlanders.  The 
various  soups  and  other  dishes  of  which  they  form  a  principal  part,  need 
not  be  enumerated;  but  the  practice  of  boiling  and  mashing  them,  and 

*  A  mixture  of  bean  and  barley-meal  used  to  be  a  favorite  food  in  the  south  of 
Scotland.  t  Rev.  Skene  Keith,  in  Rep.  of  the  Agriculture  of  Aberdeenshire, 

t  St.  Hieron.  on  Jeremiah. 


326 


OON.— ANCIENT  COOKING.  FUEL.— 


slicing  them  up  the  next  morning  for  the  purpose  of  being  toasted  Yi&o 
bread,  seems  peculiar  to  the  mountaineers. 

Oon  froth  is  a  quantity  of  milk  or  whey  boiled,  and  then  worked  up 
by  a  stick  having  a  cross  part  at  the  lower  end.  This  substitute  for 
more  substantial  fare  was  often  used  by  the  poor  of  the  Western  Isles; 
and  Martin  asserts  that  he  saw  those  who  had  for  months  lived  on  whey 
thus  prepared,  climb  the  rugged  mountains  with  as  much  agility  as  those 
who  were  better  fed.  Many  curious  anecdotes  might  be  told  of  this 
pleasant  but  unsubstantial  mess. 

The  people  in  the  remote  islands  boiled  dulce,  a  seaweed,  gathered 
from  the  rocks,  and  if  able  to  add  a  little  butter  to  it,  it  was  esteemed  a 
very  excellent  dish. 

When  cattle  were  slaughtered,  the  smith  got  the  head,  the  quarter- 
master got  the  hides,  and  the  piper  was  entitled  to  a  certain  share.  This 
last  person  was  called  ullaicher,  literally,  provider  of  both  food  and  lodg- 
mgs.  Droin-uinn,  a  rump,  has  been  called  the  bard's  portion  from  this 
circumstance: — when  a  person  was  helped  to  this  part,  he  or  she  was 
obliged  to  compose  a  verse,  or  resign  the  nice  morsel.  A  few  of  these 
rhymes  would  be  a  curious  collection. 

In  dressing  flesh-meat,  the  old  Gael  were  probably  contented  with 
plain  roasting  and  boiling,  the  latter  being  most  usual.  In  the  poem  on 
the  death  of  Carril,  mircorra,  a  favorite  dish  with  Fingal  and  Gaul,  is 
mentioned.  It  was  a  choice  collop,  chopped  small,  and  mixed  with 
marrow  and  herb-seeds.  The  ancient  manner  of  preparing  their  meat, 
after  hunting,  as  preserved  by  tradition  among  the  Highlanders,  is 
curious.  A  pit,  lined  with  smooth  stones,  was  made,  and  near  it  a  heap 
of  smooth  flat  pebbles  was  placed.  The  stones  and  the  pit  were  both 
well  heated  by  burning  heath,  and  part  of  the  venison  was  then  laid  in 
the  pit,  and  covered  by  the  hot,  loose  stones  ;  another  piece  was  laid 
over  that,  and  the  same  process  repeated  until  the  pit  was  full,  when  it 
was  closed  over  with  heath.  To  confirm  this  tradition,  pits  are  shown 
in  various  parts  ;  and  a  passage  in  the  poem  of  Fingal  thus  describes 
the  preparations  :  "It  was  on  Cromla's  shaggy  side  that  Dorglas  had 
placed  the  deer,  the  early  fortune  of  the  chase,  before  the  heroes  left 
the  hill.  A  hundred  youths  collect  the  heath  ;  ten  warriors  wake  the 
fire  ;  three  hundred  choose  the  polished  stones.  The  feast  is  smoking 
wide." 

The  fires  of  the  ancient  Caledonians  were  formed  of  wood  ;  and,  at 
their  feasts,  a  large  trunk  of  an  oak  tree  was  reckoned  an  indispensable 
part  of  the  entertainment  ;  and  so  much  attached  were  the  people  to  the 
practice,  that  they  viewed  its  disuse  as  a  kind  of  sacrilege.  The  decay 
of  the  forests  prevents  the  general  use  of  wood  ;  and  peats,  or  turf,  have 
lonrj  been  the  common  fuel  in  the  Highlands  and  in  the  North.  The 
use  of  coal  was  early  adopted  in  many  parts,  to  which  necessity  alone 
seems  to  have  led.  iEneas  Sylvius,  afterwards  Pope  Pius  II.,  says,  the 
poor  people  of  Scotland  were  obliged  to  burn  black  stone  instead  of 


FUEL.— COOKING  UTENSILS. 


wood.*  At  this  day,  crofters  will  go  ten  or  fifteen  miles  for  peat,  in 
preference  to  coal,  which  uiight  be  had  with  less  trouble  and  at  as  little 
expense.  In  digging  turf,  a  particular  spade  is  used,  represented  in  the 
closing  vignette  of  last  Chapter,  which  cuts  it  into  regular  squares  of 
the  form  of  a  brick,  the  workmen  either  casting  the  peats,  as  it  is  called, 
by  cutting  horizontally  or  perpendicularly.  The  latter,  called  pitting, 
was  the  ancient  way  of  working  mosses  in  the  Highlands,  and  although, 
in  some  respects,  objectionable,  it  is  not  so  destructive  to  the  bogs  as 
running  level,  by  which  mosses  have,  in  some  cases,  been  rapidly 
exhausted.  The  Irish  taught  the  inhabitants  of  Lismore  and  other 
islands  the  method  of  baking  loose  peat  earth,  which  forms  serviceable 
fuel.  The  cottages  are  always  accompanied  by  the  peat-stack,  that  is, 
the  fuel  neatly  built  up  at  the  end  of  the  house,  a  covering  being  formed 
of  the  surface  parts  of  the  moss  or  heath  dug  in  large  pieces.  Great 
part  of  the  summer  is  often  consumed  in  casting  and  bringing  from  a 
distance  the  winter's  stock  of  fuel,  in  which  work  the  poor  have  the 
voluntary  assistance  of  their  neighbors. 

The  Celts  used  numbers  of  pots,  pans,  and  spits  for  preparing  their 
victuals;  and  thought  game,  killed  by  arrows  dipt  in  the  juice  of  helle- 
bore, the  flesh  surrounding  the  wound,  being  speedily  cut  away,  became 
tender.  The  Britons,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  were  less  nice  in  their 
taste,  and  less  attentive  to  their  culinary  arrangements.  Among  the 
rude  tribes  of  the  North,  such  an  art  received  but  very  little  attention. 
Their  mode  of  roasting  or  baking,  already  described,  was  ingenious;  but 
even  in  the  time  of  Bruce  the  raw  hide  of  the  animal,  stretched  on  four 
sticks,  was  used  to  form  the  bag  in  which  the  flesh  was  seethed.  When 
Douglas  and  Murray  retreated,  after  the  celebrated  inroad  which  they 
made  on  England,  no  less  than  three  hundred  of  these  awkward  utensils, 
with  a  thousand  wooden  spits,  were  found  in  the  camp  which  they  had 
evacuated.  The  people  of  some  parts  of  the  Highlands,  at  a  much  later 
period,  continued  this  custom.  Birt  tells  us  they  had  a  wooden  vessel, 
hollowed  by  the  dirk,  for  the  purpose  of  heating  water,  by  means  of  hot 
pebbles  thrown  into  it.  The  most  ancient  iron  pot  is  seen  in  the  vignette, 
with  a  high  neck,  and  the  sort  at  present  in  common  use,  which  is  not 
reckoned  so  good  for  boiling,  is  beside  it. 

In  hunting,  the  flesh  was  occasionally  eaten  raw,  after  the  blood  was 
squeezed  out;  but  the  Irish  were  more  accustomed  to  this  barbarous 
food,  and  Campion  remarks,  that  the  flesh  thus  swallowed  "  was  boyled 
in  their  stomaks  with  aqua  vitas,  which  they  swill  in  after  such  a  sur- 
feite  by  quarts  and  pottles."  They  also,  he  says,  bled  their  cattle,  and 
baked  the  curdled  blood  spread  with  butter.  A  French  writer,  some 
centuries  ago,  describes  Scotland  as  "  pauvre  en  or,  et  en  argent,  mais 
fort  bon  en  vivres;"  and  again,  "  assez  des  veaux  et  vaches,  et  par  le 
moyen  la  chair  est  a  bon  compte." 


*  Gough's  Top.  ii.  564.  A  coal  mine  was  discovered  in  Ireland  concerning  which 
there  was  no  tradition.    Hamilton's  Letters  on  the  Coast  of  Antrim. 


328 


SALT.— PORK. 


The  Caledonians,  no  doubt,  preserved  their  meat  by  salt,  which  the 
surrounding  ocean  would  supply;  in  the  isles,  the  ashes  of  burnt  sea 
ware  was  often  used  to  preserve  fowl  and  to  mix  in  cheese ;  but  they 
could  save  fish  for  many  months  without  salt.  In  Gaul  and  Germany, 
salt  was  made  by  pouring  seawater  upon  burning  wood.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  oak  was  generally  preferred,  the  ashes  of  which  alone  was 
sometimes  used.  In  certain  parts  hazael  was  considered  best  for  the 
purpose;  but  all  salt  so  made,  as  might  be  expected,  was  very  black. 
The  Umbrians  procured  this  article  by  boiling  some  sort  of  reeds  and 
canes  until  the  water  was  nearly  evaporated.  At  Egelastse,  in  Spain, 
there  were  mines  whence  salt  was  dug,  which  was  reckoned  medicinal.* 
No  river  in  Germany  possesses  the  qualities  which  are  ascribed  to  one 
by  Tacitus,  who  is  either  misunderstood  or  has  been  imposed  upon  by 
his  informers.  As  the  story  is  curious,  it  may  be  related:  the  Catti  and 
Hermanduri  quarrelled  about  the  property  of  a  river,  the  waters  of  which, 
on  being  poured  over  large  fires  of  wood,  produced  salt,  and  they  were, 
perhaps,  the  more  irritable  on  the  subject  of  their  respective  rights,  in 
consequence  of  a  belief  that  the  stream  and  the  neighboring  woods  were 
near  heaven.  The  war  seemed  to  be  one  of  extermination;  for  the  Cat 
tans,  who  were  ultimately  defeated,  had  taken  avow  to  devote  the  whole 
of  their  opponents — men,  horses,  and  every  article  to  be  burnt  or  slain, 
in  honor  of  Mars  and  Mercury. "f  There  was  also  a  controversy, 
fomented  by  the  Romans,  in  the  time  of  Marcellinus,  between  the  Bur- 
gundians  and  Germans,  concerning  salt-pits. 

The  Britons  procured  salt  from  mines,  and  one  of  the  ancient  roads  is 
called  the  Salt  way.  Many  curious  observances,  to  be  deduced  from 
the  Celts,  were  connected  with  this  article,  several  of  which  still  exist. 
The  Manx  will  do  nothing  without  carrying  or  interchanging  salt;  a 
beggar  will  even  refuse  alms  if  offered  without  it. J  Camden  says,  that 
before  the  Irish  put  seed  in  the  ground,  the  mistress  sent  salt  into  the 
field;  and  when  a  person  entered  on  a  public  office,  women  in  the 
street,  and  girls  from  windows,  sprinkled  them  and  their  attendants 
with  it.  In  parts  of  Scotland,  a  portion  is  put  into  the  first  of  a  cow's 
milk  after  calving,  which  is  intended  to  prevent  the  person  who  receives 
it,  if  one  of  the  "uncanny,"  from  doing  any  harm  to  the  cattle;  §  and 
that  it  was  an  antidote  to  witchcraft,  we  learn  from  Reginald  Scot,  who 
assures  us  the  devil  cannot  bear  to  take  any  in  his  meat,  it  being  a  sign 
of  eternity.  The  Gorleg  yr  Halen,  or  prelude  of  the  salt,  is  a  tune  which 
was  first  played,  say  the  Welsh,  when  the  salt-seller  was  placed  before 
Arthur  and  his  celebrated  knights, ||  a  fanciful  origin,  perhaps,  of  a  more 
ancient  ceremony.  The  Scots  were  anciently  accustomed  to  salt  beef 
in  the  hide. 

The  Celts  are  said  to  have  had  a  dislike  to  the  flesh  of  swine,  which 
is  supposed  to  have  arisen  from  religious  scruples.    This  aversion  does 

*  Pliny,  xxxi.  7.  t  Tacitus'  Annals,  xiii.       t  Waldrons'  History 

§  Stat,  Account  of  Killearn,  &c.    |[  Pennant's  Tour  in  Wales. 


nsH. 


329 


exist,  but  it  appears  doubtful  whether  the  antipathy  is  of  ancient  origin. 
The  laws  of  Kenneth  Mac  Alpin  contain  some  regulations  respecting 
this  animal;  and  from  the  Chartularies  and  other  documents,  it  is  appar- 
ent that  very  considerable  numbers  were  formerly  reared.  The  Gauls 
who  inhabited  Pesinus,  a  city  of  Galatia,  could  not  bear  to  touch  swine,* 
but  the  boar  was  a  favorite  object  of  pursuit  with  the  Celtic  huntsman,! 
and  Strabo  says,  they  used  much  pork,  both  fresh  and  salted. J  In  Spain, 
the  inhabitants  used  to  live  on  boar's  flesh;  but  they  believed  that,  to 
eat  of  the  heads,  drove  men  mad,  and,  therefore,  effectually  to  guard 
agamst  that  calamity,  they  always  burned  them.^  There  was  not, 
among  the  ancient  Britons,  a  daintier  dish  than  the  chenerotis,  a  bird 
Ifss  than  a  goose. || 

The  Celtae  did  not  in  general  make  use  of  fish  as  an  article  of  food, 
from  religious  prejudices;  for,  as  they  adored  the  waters,  it  would  appear 
they  abstained  from  living  on  the  inhabitants  of  that  element.  This 
abstinence,  however,  was  not  universally  adhered  to,  for  the  Celtiberi 
caught  scombri,  or  mackerel,  from  which  they  procured  the  celebrated 
garum,'i[  and  Athenaeus  says,  the  nations  about  the  Po  used  both  sea  and 
river  fish;  while  Solinus  informs  us,  the  people  of  the  Hebudse  Islands 
lived  on  them;  but  the  Caledonians  are  expressly  noticed  by  Dio  and 
Herodian  as  not  eating  the  fish  with  which  their  seas  and  rivers  abounded. 
The  Irish  "had  little  skill  in  catching  fish"  two  centuries  ago,  a  proof 
that  they  paid  small  attention  to  the  pursuit;  and  the  Highlanders  appear 
to  have  been  still  more  indifTerent  to  it,  and  had  a  particular  antipathy  to 
eels  and  pike.  From  the  abundance  of  land  animals  and  the  feathered 
race,  this  dislike  to  a  species  of  food  so  excellent,  and  so  bounteously  pro- 
vided by  nature,  in  a  country  where  the  variable  climate  renders  the 
harvest  so  uncertain,  may  have,  in  ancient  times,  produced  little  effect; 
but  the  continuance  of  so  much  indifference  to  so  obvious  a  source  of 
national  profit  is  much  to  be  regretted.  The  clergy  were  obliged  to  eat 
fish  during  their  fasts,  and  necessity  would,  no  doubt,  compel  the  Celt 
to  relinquish  his  ancient  prejudice  for  a  time,  and  might,  ultimately, 
subdue  his  obstinacy;  but  as  he  had  no  motive  ever  to  catch  more  than 
was  sufficient  for  his  wants,  he  was  not  likely  to  become  very  enterpris- 
ing. The  Dalriads,  it  must  be  observed,  did  not  refuse  to  partake  of 
fish;  and  in  a  copy  of  the  poem  of  Darthula,  in  possession  of  the  High- 
land Society,  and  of  date  1238,  their  food  is  said  to  have  consisted  of 
fish  and  venison,  but  the  Highlanders,  notwithstanding  the  mention  of 
fish  in  several  old  poems,  certainly  did  never  willingly  make  use  of 
such  food.  It  was  matter  of  astonishment  to  an  English  resident 
among  them  a  century  ago,  that  the  trout  with  which  their  streams 
were  teeming  remained  entirely  disregarded;  but  they  retain  a  proverb 
which  implies  their  contempt  for  fish-eaters,  and  the  encouragement  of 

*  Pausanias,  vii.  17.  *  Pork  was  much  esteemed  among  the  Scandinavians.  Pink. 
t  Lib.  iv.  19.  §  Pliny,  viii.  36.  H  Pliny,  xxii. 

IT  Pliny,  xxxi.    The  Scyths  ate  river  fish. 

42 


330 


FISH. 


government  has  not  yet  induced  either  the  Scots,  Welsh,  or  Irish,  to 
enter  with  spirit  into  the  fishing  trade.  "When  we  see  a  principle  of 
religion  itself  exploded,  producing  consequences  through  so  many  cen- 
turies of  change,  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised  that  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  same  races  of  men  should  have  continued  for  ages,  so 
extremely  analogous."*  No  great  lines  were  formerly  used  in  the  west 
isles  of  Scotland;  but  cod,  ling,  and  other  large  fish  were  angled  for, 
and  occasionally  they  were  speared. 

The  Seal,  Ron,  may  not  have  been  considered  as  a  fish  by  the  Gael, 
as  it  appears  to  have  been  eaten  by  them  in  most  ancient  times.  The 
monks  of  lona  had  artificial  ponds  of  salt  water,  in  which  they  were 
preserved,!  and  many  of  the  Highlanders  were  accustomed  in  the  last 
century  to  cure  hams  of  them.  Young  seals  are  even  at  the  present 
day  eaten  in  some  of  the  Orkney  Islands.  J  Many  dishes  were  formerly 
esteemed,  that  would  now  be  thought  intolerable.  The  monks  of  Dum- 
fermline  had  a  grant  from  Malcolm  IV.  of  all  the  heads  of  a  species 
of  whale,  called  crespeis,  that  should  be  caught  in  Scotwattre,  or 
the  Firth  of  Forth,  his  Majesty  reserving  the  tongues,  as  the  most 
dainty  part,  for  himself  In  1290,  the  ship  that  was  sent  to  bring  over 
the  Maiden  of  Norway  had  the  fish  part  of  her  provisions  from  Aberdeen, 
and,  amongst  other  articles,  were  fifty  pounds  of  whale. ^  Martin,  whose 
curious  work  appeared  in  the  beginning  of  last  century,  says  the  people 
of  Tirey  ate  whales  with  certain  roots.  Seals  and  porpoises  were  com- 
mon at  English  tables  in  the  time  of  Richard  II.  At  Uist  they  were 
regularly  fished  for  in  Martin's  time;  the  steward  and  his  officer  had 
each  a  young  one,  as  a  perquisite,  and  the  minister  was  allowed  his 
choice  of  those  caught.  A  poem  in  Mac  Donald's  collection,  of  a  date 
somewhat  later,  contains  these  lines: 

"  Nuair  a'ghabhd  go  tamh, 

Ann  an  cala  port  sheamh 

Cha  b  'f  hallan  bhom  laimhs  an  ron." 

In  Aberdeenshire,  a  traveller  of  the  last  century  observed,  that  "there 
was  neither  fine  architecture  nor  gardening,  but  abundance  of  good  cheer 
and  good  neighborhood,"  the  servants,  during  the  summer,  having  so 
much  salmon  that  they  refused  to  eat  of  it  oftener  than  twice  a  week.|| 
In  that  part  of  the  country  a  favorite  winter  dish  is  "  stappit  heads," 
or  boiled  haddocks,  the  heads  being  filled  with  a  mixture  of  oatmeal, 
onions,  and  pepper.  It  is  from  the  fishing  villages  on  the  coast  of  Kin- 
cardineshire, the  adjoining  county,  that  the  much  esteemed  fish  called 
Finan  haddocks,  from  the  name  of  a  small  port,  are  procured.  They 
are  cut  open  when  taken,  and  cured  by  being  suspended  for  some  time  in 
the  smoke  of  turf    In  the  isle  of  Sky,  herrings  were  dried  and  preserv- 

*  Caledonia,  i.  p.  460.  It  is  but  just,  however,  to  remark,  that  the  English  have  not 
engaged  with  greater  spirit  into  the  fisheries  than  the  Scots. 

t  Adomnan,  i.  c.  41.  t  Stat.  Account,  vii.  46. 

§  Mac  Pherson's  Annals  of  Commerce.  ||  Journey  through  Scotland,  1729. 


HOSPITALITY. 


331 


ed  without  salt,  and  if  they  were  taken  after  the  10th  of  September,  O 
S.,  they  would  keep  for  eight  months.  About  the  Po,  the  inhabitants 
ate  their  fish  either  roasted  or  boiled,  with  vinegar,  salt,  and  cummin, 
oil  being  too  scarce  for  common  use,  but,  had  it  been  otherwise,  they 
did  not  like  it  so  well  as  their  old  sauce. 

The  Scots  have  but  very  recently  divested  themselves  of  many  preju- 
dices against  certain  fish,  and  those  without  scales  are  still  disliked. 
"  It  was  only  at  a  late  period  that  turbot  was  relished  even  in  Fife,  where 
fishing  is  so  generally  followed;  and  people  advanced  in  life  do  not  yet 
esteem  it  so  much  as  the  halibut,  which  is  very  commonly  dignified  with 
the  name  of  turbot.  There  are  living,  or  were  very  lately,  in  one  of  the 
coast  towns,  several  poor  people  who  were  wont  to  derive  great  part  of 
their  subsistence  from  the  turbots  which  the  fishermen  threw  away  on 
the  beach,  because  nobody  could  be  found  to  purchase  them."* 

Hospitality  was  a  virtue  which  the  Celts  carried  to  the  extreme. 
They  took  the  greatest  delight  in  inviting  strangers  to  their  tables,  be- 
fore whom  were  always  placed  the  fairest  and  best  joints. f  The  Celti- 
beri  were  famed  for  courteousness  to  strangers,  from  whatever  place 
they  came;  and  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  have  it  in  their  power 
to  entertain  guests,  were  esteemed  the  favorites  of  the  gods.f  In  deeds 
of  hospitality  and  social  feasts,  says  Tacitus,  no  nation  on  earth  was  ever 
more  liberal  than  the  Germans.  J  The  Gaulish  chiefs  had  always  a 
numerous  retinue,  who  followed  them  to  the  war,  and  lived  well  at  their 
expense. 

Some  curious  instances  of  the  delight  which  the  Celts  took  in  an  os- 
tentatious display  of  liberality  are  recorded.  Ariamnes,  a  wealthy  Ga- 
latian,  formed  a  resolution  of  entertaining  all  his  countrymen  for  a  whole 
year,  at  his  individual  expense,  and  he  proceeded  in  this  manner.  He 
divided  the  roads  throughout  the  provinces  into  convenient  day's  journeys, 
and  with  reeds,  poles,  and  willows,  erected  pavilions  capable  of  contain- 
ing three  hundred  persons  or  upwards,  and  having  the  preceding  year 
employed  numerous  artificers  to  fabricate  caldrons,  he  placed  them  in 
these  buildings,  and  kept  them  continually  full  of  all  sorts  of  flesh.  Every 
day  many  bulls,  swine,  sheep,  and  other  cattle  were  slain,  and  many 
measures  of  corn,  and  much  barley  meal  ready  kneaded,  was  procured; 
and  all  this  was  not  confined  to  the  inhabitants,  but  the  servants  were 
instructed  to  constrain  all  strangers  to  partake  of  the  feast. §  The  rich- 
es of  the  Gauls  enabled  them  to  indulge  in  very  extravagant  expenditure. 
Luernius,  a  king  of  the  Arverni,  to  court  popularity,  was  accustomed 

'»  Tullis's  ed.  of  Sibbald's  Hist,  of  Fife. 

t  Diodorus.    Caesar  in  like  manner  celebrates  their  hospitality,  vi.  23. 

{  De  Mor.  Germ.  This  is  a  viutue  of  most  unpolished  nations.  A  poor  woman  in 
Norway  refused  any  payment  from  some  English  travellers,  observing,  that  "  as  long 
as  the  earth  gives  us  corn,  and  the  sea  fish,  no  one  shall  have  to  say  we  have  taken 
money  of  him."  Boye's  Tour  in  Norway.  The  Poles  had  Radogost,  the  god  of  hos- 
:»itality,  and  the  only  one  worshipped,  in  a  covered  temple,  called  Gontina. 

§  Athenaeus,  iv. 


332 


HOSPITALITY. 


to  throw  silver  and  gold  among  the  crowds  who  followed  him  as  he  drove 
through  the  fields.  On  one  occasion  he  inclosed  a  space  of  twelve  fur- 
longs, in  which  he  had  constructed  ponds  filled  with  costly  and  delicious 
liquors.  Stores  of  victuals,  ready  cooked,  were  also  provided,  sufficient 
for  all  who  chose  to  partake  of  them,  for  many  days.*  It  is  not  to  be 
doubted  but  numbers  availed  themselves  of  this  munificent  treat,  and 
the  pleasure  of  the  feast  was  heightened  by  the  civilities  of  numerous 
attendants. 

The  manner  in  which  the  Germans  received  their  guests  was  familiar 
and  kind.  To  refuse  admitting  any  person  whatever,  was  held  wicked 
and  inhuman.  Every  one  that  came  to  a  house  was  received  and  treat- 
ed with  lodging  and  repasts,  as  long  and  as  liberally  as  ihe  owner  could 
possibly  afford,  and,  when  his  whole  stock  was  consumed,  he  took  his 
guests  to  a  new  scene  of  hospitality,  both  proceeding  to  the  next  house, 
to  which  the  formality  of  an  invitation  was  unnecessary,  and  where  they 
were  received  with  the  same  frankness  and  joy,  no  difterence  being  ever 
made  between  a  stranger  and  an  acquaintance,  in  dispensing  the  rites 
of  hospitality.  Upon  the  departure  of  a  guest,  if  he  asked  any  thing,  it 
was  cheerfully  given.  Favors  were  requested  and  bestowed  with  equal 
familiarity,!  for  in  mutual  gifts  the  Celts  delighted,  but  neither  claimed 
merit  from  what  they  gave,  nor  acknowledged  any  obligation  for  what 
they  received.  The  Gauls,  with  singular  delicacy,  never  asked  the 
name  of  a  stranger,  what  he  was,  or  his  business,  until  the  entertainment 
was  all  over.  J  The  guest  of  a  Highland  chief  was  not  questioned  as  to 
his  business  until  the  expiration  of  a  year,  should  he  stop  so  long.^ 
There  was  a  striking  resemblance  to  these  manners  in  the  practice  of 
hospitality  among  the  Britons,  who  cherished  this  characteristic  virtue  of 
the  Gauls  as  long  as  they  were  able  to  retain  their  primitive  Celtic  man- 
ners. Giraldus  Cambrensis  says  of  the  Welsh,  that  when  a  stranger 
entered  a  house,  water  was  immediately  brought  for  him  to  wash  his 
feet.  If  he  did  so,  it  was  then  known  that  he  would  stop  some  time, 
perhaps  for  the  night,  or  longer,  which  diffused  great  joy  throughout  the 
family,  and  every  entertainment  which  they  could  afford  was  provided 
for  their  guest. jj 

The  Highlanders  of  Scotland  formerly  carried  their  hospitality  to  as 
great  an  extent  as  the  ancient  Celtie;  and  even  at  this  day  the  more  se- 
questered inhabitants  are  prone  to  indulge  in  a  habit  of  liberality,  which, 
however  honorable  to  their  feelings,  their  limited  means  do  not  altogeth- 
er justify.  In  past  ages,  it  was  uniformly  a  practice  to  leave  their  doors 
open  during  the  night,  as  well  as  the  day,  that  any  traveller  might  be 
able  to  avail  himself  of  shelter  and  entertainment.  It  was  long  consid- 
ered infamous  in  a  man  of  condition  to  have  the  door  of  his  house  ever 
shut,  lest,  as  the  bards  expressed  it,  the  stranger  should  come  and  be- 


*  Ibid.,  from  Posidonius.    Strabo  also  extols  the  Celtic  feasts. 

t  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ.  +  Diodorus. 

§  Dr.  Mac  Pherson.  1|  Descriptio  Camb.  c.  10. 


HOSPITALITY. 


333 


hold  his  contracted  soul.  The  gate  of  Fingal  stood  always  open,  and  his 
hall  was  the  stranger's  home.*  The  Celts  never  closed  the  doors  of  their 
houses, t  but  esteemed  it  the  greatest  happiness  to  have  the  opportunity 
of  entertaining  strangers.  In  later  times,  it  was  the  practice  in  Scotland, 
before  closing  the  doors,  to  look  out  for  strangers  or  wayfaring  men,  and 
it  is  still  remembered  in  the  traditions  of  the  peasantry  in  many  parts  of 
the  North,  that  the  Laird  had  his  "  latter  meat  table,"  daily  spread  for 
all  who  chose  to  partake  of  his  liberalHy. 

To  their  friends,  the  Gael  gave  the  protection  of  their  roof,  regardless 
of  circumstances.  To  one  who  besought  their  hospitality,  they  perform- 
ed the  sacred  duty,  and  were  ready  to  fulfil  their  own  saying,  "  I  would 
give  him  a  night's  fare,  although  he  had  a  man's  head  under  his  arm- 
pit." An  anecdote  told  of  Mac  Gregor,  of  Glenstrse,  and  young  La- 
mond,  of  Cowal,  is  in  point.  The  latter  had  killed  the  only  son  of  Mac 
Gregor,  and,  when  pursued,  had  rushed  into  the  father's  house  to  save 
his  life,  without  knowing  whose  protection  he  had  claimed.  The  old 
Laird,  in  ignorance  of  his  loss,  afforded  him  an  asylum,  fulfilled  his  pledge 
of  protection  when  he  knew  him  as  the  murderer  of  his  son,  and,  to  pre- 
vent the  otherwise  inevitable  destruction  of  Lamond,  he  even  aided  his 
escape  during  the  night. 

For  the  following  account  of  a  worthy  Highlander  of  the  old  school, 
I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Donald  Mac  Pherson,  author  of  melodies  from  the 
Gaelic.  Donald  Mac  Donald,  Esq.,  of  Aberarder,  of  the  house  of  Kep- 
poch,  father  of  Captain  Mac  Donald,  of  Moy,  was  remarkable  for  his 
hospitality,  as  well  as  for  many  other  traits  of  eccentric  virtue.  Aberar- 
der House  is  situated  in  one  of  the  most  romantic  spots  on  earth,  at  the 
side  of  Loch  Laggan,  and  is  distant  on  one  side  four,  and  on  the  othei 
six,  miles  from  any  house.  In  good  weather,  he  used  to  seat  himself  on 
a  green  knoll,  above  the  mansion,  which  commanded  a  view  of  the  road, 
at  least  a  mile  each  way,  and  when  he  discovered  a  traveller,  he  used 
to  desire  Mrs.  Mac  Donald  immediately  to  prepare  food,  for  that  he  had 
discovered  a  stranger,  whose  slow  progress  indicated  the  necessity  of 
refreshment.  Sometimes,  it  happened  that  the  stranger  passed  without 
calling;  on  discovering  which,  he  would  exclaim,  "  Damn  the  scoundrel, 
I  am  sure  he  is  a  bad  fellow  at  home."  He  was  even  known  sometimes 
to  follow  a  considerable  distance  with  food,  or  to  persuade  the  traveller 
to  return  and  spend  the  night. 

The  unbounded  hospitality  of  the  Celtic  chief  was  a  favorite  theme 
of  the  Bards,  who  continued,  like  their  predecessors  among  the  ancient 
Gauls,  to  fare  well  at  their  master's  table,  and  enliven  his  banquets  by 
adulatory  effusions.  In  the  compositions  of  this,  latterly,  servile  body, 
the  hero  and  the  hospitable  are  almost  the  only  {persons  whose  praises 
are  extolled,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  in  Gaelic  there  is  but  one  word 
for  a  landholder  and  a  hospitable  man.  Cean  uia'  na  dai,  or  the  point 
to  which  all  the  roads  of  the  strangers  lead,  was  the  epithet  bestowed  on 


*  Smith's  Gallic  Antiquities. 


t  Agathias.  i.  p.  13,  quoted  by  Ritson. 


334  HOSPITALITT.  \ 

the  chief's  house  ;  and  so  uncommon  was  it  for  any  to  be  otherwise 
spoken  of,  that  the  translator  of  Ossian  declares,  among  all  the  poems 
he  nad  ever  met  with,  but  one  man  was  branded  with  the  charge  of 
inhospitality.  He  was  described  as  the  cloud  which  the  strangers 
shun.  Birt  mentions  a  Laird  to  whose  house  he  was  going,  who  met 
him  with  an  arcadian  offering  of  milk  and  cream,  carried  before  hmi 

by  his  servants*  ■  .    ,  r 

But  it  was  not  the  higher  order  only  who  were  distinguished  for  the 
virtue  of  hospitality— tlie  whole  population  was  imbued  with  a  spirit  of 
disinterested  kindness,  which,  according  to  their  means,  they  cheerfully 
displayed.    For  this  feeling  the  Scots  are  still  remarkable.  When 
Dr  Mac  Culloch,  who  had  fallen  sick  at  Dollar,  recovered  so  far  as  to 
be  able  to  walk  forth,  "  half  the  whole  sex  came  out  of  their  houses 
when  they  saw  the  stranger  gentleman  crawling  up  the  hdl,  to  offer 
him  seats  and  milk,  and  what  not;  and  when  I  returned  many  years 
afterwards  I  was  received,  not  as  one  who  had  been  a  source  of  trouble, 
but  as  an  old  friend."    The  poorest  cottager  is  ready  to  share  his 
little  provision  with  a  stranger.    On  a  hundred  occasions  I  have  par- 
taken  of  their  hospitality  without  being  able  to  prevail  on  them  to 
accept  remuneration,  which,  in  some  cases,  they  have  refused  in  a 
manner  that  showed  their  feelings  were  hurt  at  the  idea  of  selling  their 
meat  and  drink.    It  is  a  common  practice,  not  only  where  the  Gaelic 
prevails,  but  towards  the  Lowlands,  to  set  before  you  milk,  ale,  bread 
and  cheese,  or  whatever  else  they  may  have,  unasked.    Nor  are  they 
less  willing  to  aff-ord  you  the  shelter  of  their  roof,  nay  vvill  even  give 
up  the  beds  of  the  family  for  your  use;  and  if  you  will  listen  to  then- 
kind  solicitations,  your  day's  march  will  be  often  shortened. 

The  rites  of  hospitality  were  practised  to  a  ruinous  extent  by  the  poor 
Islanders,  who  retained  the  virtue  when  its  exercise  was  highly  injurious 
to  themselves.    In  the  distant  isle  of  Rona  the  clergyman  who  super- 
intended the  spiritual  concerns  of  the  inhabitants,  was  seldom  able  to 
reach  these  remote  members  of  his  flock;  but  when  he  cou  d  visit 
them,  the  poor  people  killed  five  sheep,  being  one  for  each  f-™''/.  ""^ 
presented  him  with  their  skins  neatly  flayed  and  full  of  meal.t  The 
untutored,  but  generous  islanders  carried  their  charUy  to  an  impruden 
length,  for  they  bestowed  so  liberally  the  little  they  possessed  that 
many  unprincipled  persons  frequented  the  Hebrides  for  the  purpose 
of  unworthily  profiting  by  their  indiscriminate  bounty.     Such  improv- 
idence, however  well  meant,  brought  on  these  simple  people  much 
in  convenience,  and  heightened  the  miseries  of  occasional  want  ;  and 
it  was  sometimes  necessary  for  the  chiefs  to  restrain        '"J""""'  ' 
system  of  supposed  .charity,  by  enjoining  their  people  to  bestovv  the., 
aLs  on  natives  or  acknowledged  objects  only.J    Those  who  subsisted 
on  the  bounty  ofothers^^ 

Letters  ed.  1818,  ii.  7.    It  wa.  customary  to  ofeTmilk  to  those  passing  a  fold. 

.         ■  '  t  Ibid. 

*  Martin. 


COSHERING. 


335 


paupers.  As  the  houses  were  never  locked  up,  the  poor  entered  freely, 
and,  without  begging,  were  supplied  with  present  food,  and  perhaps 
something  besides  ;  and  if  in  want  of  a  lodging,  a  plaid  was  given  them, 
in  which  they  reposed  themselves  on  the  floor.  The  unprotected  state 
of  the  houses  proves  the  honesty  of  the  people.  Nothing  was  stolen, 
even  by  the  poorest  mendicants  ;  and  the  altered  state  of  society  has 
not  yet  induced  the  inhabitants  of  many  secluded  districts  to  provide 
bolts  for  their  doors.  The  number  of  persons  in  the  Highlands  who 
had  no  means  of  their  own  on  which  to  subsist,  was  very  considerable, 
but  the  statement  in  the  Gartmore  MS.,  where  they  are  calculated  at 
57,000,  is  surely  much  exaggerated.*  It  is  observable  that,  at  the 
present  day,  the  professional  beggars  are  from  the  Lowlands. 

The  acts  of  the  Scots  parliament,  ordering  "that  nane  pass  in  the 
country  an'ly  on  the  king's  lieges,  or  thig  or  sorn  on  them,"  but  that 
"  in  all  burrowes  there  sail  be  hostellaries,  and  provision  for  horse  and 
man, — that  all  travelling  men  on  horse  or  foot  lodge  in  hostellaries, 
and  that  nane  other  receive  them,"'|"  were  evidently  framed  to  repress 
the  practice  of  idle  and  dissolute  people  traversing  the  country,  en 
couraged  by  the  inconsiderate  hospitality  of  the  natives.  In  Ireland, 
statutes  were  passed  for  a  similar  purpose  ;  but  such  acts  were  anoma 
lous  and  premature,  in  that  country,  for,  while  coigny  and  livery  were 
prohibited,  there  were  no  inns,  and  it  was  treason  to  enter  a  house  for 
refreshment,  were  it  the  dwelling  of  the  traveller's  own  tenant!  J 

When,  like  their  ancestors  on  the  continent,  the  stock  of  the  High 
lander  was  exhausted,  he  carried  his  visiter  to  the  house  of  his  neigh- 
bor, to  whose  care  he  was  then  resigned.  "  They  never  depart  so  long 
as  any  provision  doth  last;  and  when  that  is  done,  they  go  to  the  next, 
and  so  from  one  to  one,  until  they  make  a  round  from  neighbor  to 
neighbor,  still  carrying  the  master  of  the  former  family  with  them  to 
the  next  house."  This  was  practised  less  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  the 
Custom  is  not  entirely  laid  aside  in  the  present  day.  It  is  only  an  idle 
people  who  could  devote  so  much  time  to  these  protracted  entertain- 
ments. 

The  practice  of  entertaining  a  stranger  as  long  as  he  chose  to  stop, 
by  a  whole  circle  of  friends,  was  zealously  adhered  to  in  Ireland,  where 
its  ancient  name,  coshering,  is  still  in  use,  even  in  Dublin  and  other 
cities,  and  is  applied  in  almost  the  original  sense.  The  Irish  gentlemen 
retain  much  of  the  hospitable  disposition  of  the  ancient  chief,  and  the 
curious  custom  alluded  to  is  thus  described  by  a  tourist  of  the  last 
century.  When  strangers  arrive  at  any  of  their  houses,  the  relations 
of  the  family  are  informed  of  it,  who  immediately  join  the  company. 
After  you  have  received  the  attentions  of  your  first  host,  you  are  invit- 
ed to  another  family,  where  you  are  entertained  with  the  same  hospi- 
tality, and  are  successively  conducted  to  the  houses  of  others,  until 


*  Appendix  to  Birt's  Letters,  ed.  1818.  t  Acts  of  James.  I.  J  Spenser. 


336 


HIGHLAND  FEASTING. 


you  have  gone  through  the  whole  circle,  if  you  are  inclined  to  stop  so 
long.  The  day  of  separation  is  the  only  one  of  grief  and  discontent.^** 
The  visits  of  the  flaith,  or  chief,  to  the  raths,  for  the  redress  of  popular 
grievances,  were  the  occasions  of  great  feasts,  the  origin  of  coshering, 
among  the  ancient  Gael;  but  the  chronicles  of  Ireland  inform  us  that 
the  fonnteach,  or  house  for  travellers,  kept  by  a  person  denominated  the 
bruigh,  was  supported  at  the  public  expanse;  and  it  is  believed  that 
every  tribe  had  one  of  these  establishments.  In  the  British  Museum  is 
preserved  a  MS.,  in  Gaelic,  which  gives  an  account  of  six  of  these  houses. t 

It  was  said  of  O'Niel,  in  the  language  of  the  bards,  that  "  guests 
were  in  his  house  more  numerous  than  trees  in  the  forest."  The  Mac 
Swineys  were  anciently  famous  for  hospitality.  Near  Clodach  castle, 
an  old  seat  of  theirs,  a  stone  was  set  up  by  the  highway,  on  which  was 
an  inscription,  inviting  all  travellers  to  repair  to  the  house  of  Edmund 
Mac  Swiney  for  refreshment.  One  of  the  family  overturned  this  stone, 
perhaps  for  very  substantial  reasons;  but  it  was  well  remarked,  that  he 
who  did  so  never  afterwards  prospered.  Doctor  Molloy  relates  that 
one  of  his  ancestors,  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  entertained  960  men,  at 
Christmas,  in  his  house  of  Broghell. 

The  Forbes's,  of  Culloden,  near  Inverness,  were  celebrated  for  their 
extraordinary  hospitality.  Birt  says,  there  was  as  much  wine  spilt 
there  as  would  content  a  moderate  family.  "A  hogshead  was  constant- 
ly on  tap  near  the  hall  door,  for  the  use  of  all  comers;  and  it  appears  in 
the  account  book  of  President  Forbes,  that  for  nine  months'  house- 
keeping in  his  family,  the  wine  alone  cost  a  sum  which,  at  the  present 
price  of  that  article,  would  amount  to  upwards  of  £2,000,  sterling. J 

Among  the  Scots  Highlanders,  the  chief  gave  a  great  entertainment 
after  any  successful  expedition,  to  which  all  the  country  round  was 
invited.  On  an  occasion  like  this,  whole  deer  and  beeves  were  roasted, 
and  laid  on  boards  or  hurdles  of  rods  placed  on  the  rough  trunks  of 
trees,  so  arranged  as  to  form  an  extended  table,  and  the  uisge  beatha 
went  round  in  plenteous  libations.  This  was  called  the  sliga  crechin, 
from  being  drunk  out  of  a  shell.  The  pipers  played  during  the  feast, 
after  which  the  women  danced,  and,  when  they  retired,  the  harpers  were 
introduced.  There  were  also  entertainments,  some  of  which  continued 
to  be  acted  when  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  wrote;  but  if  these  little  dramas 
were,  as  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mac  Leod  says,  chiefly  selections  from  Ossian, 
they  could  scarcely  deserve  the  epithet  ludicrous,  which  the  former 
applies  to  them.  The  funeral  of  any  great  personage  was  accompanied 
with  profuse  feasting,  a  custom,  although  conducted  with  less  extrava- 
gance, not  yet  disused.  At  the  burial  of  one  of  the  Lords  of  the  Isles, 
in  lona,  nine  hundred  cows,  valued  at  three  marks  each,  were  consumed. 

*  Luckombe's  Tour. 

t  Hail.  Coll.  5280.  Solinus,  however,  testifies  against  their  hospitality,  saying  the 
country  was  rendered  inhuman  by  their  savage  manners,  iii.  6. 
t  Culloden  Papers,  p.  xxii. 


HIGHLAND  FEASTING. 


337 


At  Highland  entertainments,  the  chief  sat  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
table,  and  the  chieftains  and  principal  men  of  the  clan  were  ranged  on 
each  side,  in  order  of  precedence,  the  commons  being  at  the  bottom. 
The  best  dishes  were,  of  course,  served  to  those  who  occupied  the 
honorable  end. 

The  famous  Lord  Lovat  was  a  striking  example  of  a  genuine  chief  of 
the  old  school.  About  1725,  when  he  was  actively  engaged  in  raising  his 
company  of  the  freceadin  dhu,  his  manners,  and  the  arrangement  of  his 
household,  are  thus  described  by  a  veteran  who  volunteered  into  his 
service.*  His  lordship  got  up  between  five  and  six  o'clock,  when  both 
doors  and  windows  were  thrown  open.  Numbers  of  the  vassals  were 
about  the  house,  and  all  were  entertained  at  the  chief's  expense.  The 
lairds  sat  towards  the  head  of  the  table,  and  drank  claret  with  their  host; 
next  to  these  were  seated  the  duin  uassals,  who  drank  whisky  punch; 
the  tenants  who  were  beneath  these  were  supplied  with  ale  ;  and  at  the 
bottom,  and  even  outside,  a  multitude  of  the  clan  regaled  themselves 
with  bread  and  an  onion,  or,  perhaps,  a  little  cheese  and  table  beer. 
Lovat,  addressing  the  second  class,  would  say  "  Cousin,  I  told  the 
servants  to  hand  you  wine,  but  they  tell  me  ye  like  punch  best."  To 
others,  "  Gentlemen,  there  is  what  ye  please  at  your  service,  but  I  send 
you  ale,  as  I  know  ye  prefer  it."  It  required  good  management  to  make 
a  limited  income  sufficient  for  so  liberal  house-keeping,  and  some  atten- 
tion was  necessary  to  preserve  the  motley  company  in  good  humor. 

In  the  laws  of  Hwyel  Dha  we  find  that  two  tables  were  daily  spread 
in  the  hall  of  the  palace;  the  king,  with  ten  chief  officers,  occupying 
the  one;  the  other  being  placed  at  the  lower  end  of  the  room,  for  the 
master  of  the  household  and  other  three  personages,  empty  spaces 
being  left  for  such  as  might,  in  consequence  of  misbehavior,  be  dismiss- 
ed from  the  king's  table.  The  whole  were  thus  arranged: — the  king  sat 
next  the  fire,  and  close  to  him  the  torch  bearer,  beside  whom  was 
placed  the  guest;  next  to  him  sat  the  heir  apparent,  then  the  master  of 
the  hawks,  then  the  foot  holder,  to  be  about  the  dish  with  him,  and  then 
the  physician,  to  be  about  the  fire  with  him.  Next  to  the  fire,  on  the 
other  side,  sat  the  chaplain,  to  bless  the  food  and  chant  the  Lord's 
Prayer, "I"  the  crier  striking  the  pillar  above  his  head,  to  command 
silence.  Beside  him  was  placed  the  judge  of  the  court,  and  next  to 
him  the  bard  of  presidency,  and  the  smith  of  the  court  sat  on  the  end 
of  the  form  before  the  priest.  The  master  of  the  household  had  his 
station  at  the  lower  end  of  the  hall,  his  left  hand  opposite  the  front  door; 
and  any  of  the  guests  whom  he  might  desire  were  obliged  to  sit  with 
him.  The  domestic  bard  sat  on  either  side  of  the  master  of  the  house- 
hold, and  the  master  of  the  horse  was  to  be  near  the  fire  with  the  king, 
while  the  chief  huntsman  was  to  be  on  the  other  side  with  the  priest. 

*  Mem.  of  Donald  Mac  Leod. 

\  The  conclusion  of  the  Highland  chaplain's  grace  always  contained  a  hearty 
prayer  for  the  prosperity  of  the  chief. 

43 


338 


CELTIC  MEALS. 


Giraldus  Cambrensis  gives  the  following  description  of  his  country- 
men's meals: — The  Welsh  "  remain  fasting  from  morning  to  night, 
being  employed  through  the  whole  day  in  managing  their  affairs;  and 
in  the  evening  they  take  a  moderate  supper.  If,  by  any  means,  they 
are  disappointed  of  a  supper,  or  get  only  a  very  slight  one,  they  wait 
with  patience  till  the  succeeding  evening.  In  the  evening,  the  whole 
family  being  assembled,  they  prepare  their  provisions  according  to  their 
ability;  in  doing  which,  they  study  only  to  satisfy  nature,  not  to  provoke 
an  appetite  by  the  arts  of  cookery,  sauces,  or  a  variety  of  dishes. 
When  supper  is  ready,  a  basket  of  vegetables  is  set  before  every  three 
persons,  and  not  before  every  two,  as  in  other  countries.  A  large  dish, 
with  meat  of  various  kinds,  and  sometimes  a  mess  of  broth  or  pottage, 
is  added.  Their  bread  is  made  into  thin  and  broad  cakes,  which  are 
baked  from  day  to  day.  They  neither  use  tables,  table-cloth,  nor 
napkins.  When  strangers  are  present,  the  master  and  mistress  of  the 
house  always  serve  them  personally,  and  never  taste  any  thing  until 
their  guests  have  finished  their  repast,  in  order  that,  should  there  be 
any  deficiency  of  provisions,  it  may  fall  to  their  share." 

The  old  Highlanders  had  but  two  meals  a  day.  "Taking  a  small 
bit  of  oatcake  in  the  morning  and  passing  to  the  hunting,  or  other  busi- 
ness, they  content  themselves  therewith  until  the  evening."*  In  distant 
ages,  they  only  took  one  repast  in  the  day.  Lon,  or  daily  meal,  is  the 
only  genuine  native  word.  Breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper  are  modern 
terms  ;  but  there  is  certainly  diot  (Greek  Jiana')  bheg,  little  meal,  and 
diot  mhor,  great  meal.  Feill,  cuirme,  and  fleagh,  were  the  names 
applied  to  great  feasts.  The  former  was  that  which  a  chief  gave  to  his 
vassals,  and  including  the  company  as  well  as  the  entertainment,  the 
term  became  used  for  a  fair.t  The  galloglach,  who  carried  his  master's 
armor,  and  was  himself  heavily  armed,  vv^as  allowed  a  brefier,  that  is 
a  man's  meat,  or  double  allowance.  The  men  servants  were  always 
allowed  twice  the  quantity  of  food  which  the  women  received,  an  ar- 
rangement of  which,  says  Martin,  the  females  never  complain,  from  a 
feeling  consideration  of  the  more  severe  labor  of  the  men.  When 
allowed  meal  instead  of  house  board,  the  scalag  received  a  stone,  or 
seventeen  pounds'  weight  per  v/eek,  the  ban  scalag,  or  maid-servant, 
being  allowed  only  a  peck,  or  about  eight  pounds. 

It  was,  until  lately,  customary  at  festivals  to  burn  a  large  trunk  of  a 
tree,  which  was  termed  the  trunk  of  the  feast.  The  common  people 
looked  on  it  as  a  sort  of  sacrilege  to  discontinue  this  ancient  practice. 
On  the  first  of  November,  it  was  an  ancient  Celtic  practice  to  indulge 
in  a  sort  of  feast,  which  was  called  la  mas  ubhal,  the  day  of  the  apple 
fruit,  because,  on  that  occasion,  roasted  apples  were  bruised  and  mixed 
in  ale,  milk,  or,  by  those  who  could  afford  it,  in  wine.  J  This  is  the  ori- 
gin of  lamb's  wool  ! 


*  Chronicle,  1597. 


t  Ross's  Notes  on  Fingal. 


X  Vallancey. 


IRISH  MEALS. 


339 


An  extract  from  the  work  of  Barnaby  Riche  will  give  an  idea  of 
the  coshering  feasts  of  the  Irish,  and  the  viands  with  which  the  company 
were  enHvened.  Good  bundles  of  straw,  or,  in  summer,  green  rushes 
were  laid  on  the  floor,  on  which  the  guests  sat  down,  another  bundle 
being  shaken  over  their  legs,  on  which  were  placed  the  dishes  and  meat. 
The  rhymers  sang,  and  the  harpers  played,  whilst  the  company  regaled 
upon  beef,  mutton,  pork,  hens,  and  rabbits,  all  put  together  in  a  great 
wooden  dish.  They  had  also  oaten  cakes,  and  good  store  of  aqua  vitse, 
without  which  it  was  not  to  be  termed  a  feast,  and  on  Wednesday,  Fri- 
day, and  Saturday,  when,  according  to  their  religion,  they  dare  eat  no 
meat,  they  substituted  plenty  of  fish. 

Derrick  gives  some  other  particulars  of  Irish  banquets,  which  farther 
illustrate  the  manners  of  the  people.  Before  they  sat  down,  the  priest 
blessed  the  whole  party,  and  repeated  his  benediction  before  they  rose 
from  the  table,  after  which,  we  are  given  to  understand,  they  were  well 
prepared  for  an  assault  on  the  English, — a  favorite  pastime.  The  seats 
were  formed  of  straw,  or  hay,  plaited  into  mats  or  hassocks.  They  used 
wooden  platters,*  and  "  a  foyner  of  three  quarters  of  a  yard  long,"  for  a. 
knife.  Milk  was  their  common  drink,  but  on  great  occasions  the  uisge 
beatha  was  handed  about  in  basins.  The  bards  and  harpers  were  not' 
brought  in  until  the  repast  was  finishedi 

We  have  some  account  of  their  mode  of  dining,  at  a  more  ancient  period;. 
Sir  Richard  Cristeed,  who  was  appointed  by  Richard  II.  to  introduce 
the  four  kings  of  Ireland  to  English  customs,  thus  describes  their  man- 
ners at  table,  and  his  own  conduct  towards  his  pupils.  "  I  observed,  as- 
they  sat  at  table,  that  they  made  grimaces  that  did  not  seem  to  me 
graceful  or  becoming,  and  I  resolved,  in  my  own  mind,  to  make  them 
drop  that  custom.  When  they  were  seated  at  table,  and;  the  first  dish 
served,  they  would  make  their  minstrels  and  principal  servants  sit  beside 
them,  and  eat  from  their  plates  and  drink  from  their  cups.  They  told' 
me  this  was  a  praiseworthy  custom  of  their  country,  where  every  thing 
was  in  common,  but  the  bed.  I  permitted  this  to  be  done  for  three 
days;  but,  on  the  fourth,  I  ordered  the  tables  to  be  laid  and  covered 
properly,  placing  the  four  kings  at  an  upper  table,  the  minstrels  at  anoth- 
er below,  and  the  servants  lower  still.  They  looked  at  each  other  and 
refused  to  eat,  saying  I  had  deprived  them  of  their  old  custom  in  which 
they  had  been  brought  up,"  Having  explained  to  them  that  it  would 
be  neither  decent  nor  honorable  to  continue  it,  they  good-humoredly 
gave  it  up.  When  they  were  afterwards  knighted,  and  dined  with  his 
Majesty,  notwithstanding  their  tutoring,  and  being  "  very  richly  dressed,' 
suitable  to  their  rank,  they  were  much  stared  at  by  the  lords  and  those 
present:  not,  indeed,  without  reason;  for  they  were  strange  figures, 
and  differently  countenanced  to  the  English,  or  other  nations.  We  are-- 
naturally  inclined,"  adds  the  knight,  "  to  gaze  at  any  thing  strange,  and 

*  Aisead,  a  platter,  in  Armoric  aczyed,  French  assiette. 


910 


CELTIC  FEASTS. 


it  was  certainly,  at  that  time,  a  great  novelty  to  see  four  Irish  kings."* 
The  description  of  a  coronation  in  Ulster,  given  by  Campion,  seems 
rather  apocryphal.  A  white  cow  was  killed  by  his  Majesty,  and  imme- 
diately seethed  whole.  In  the  water  of  this  carcass  he  placed  himself 
naked,  and  thus  sitting,  he  and  his  people  supped  and  ate  the  broth  and 
flesh,  without  spoon  or  dish  ! 

It  is  not  digressing  to  observe,  that  knives  and  forks  were  not  former- 
ly in  use  among  the  Gael.  Indeed,  the  latter  were  introduced  in  Eng- 
land no  earlier  than  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century,  and  they  were  not 
very  generally  used  fifty  years  afterwards. |  Martin,  who  visited  the 
Isles  at  the  close  of  that  century,  says,  the  people  of  North  Uist  used  a 
long  stick  for  a  fork,  when  eating  the  flesh  of  the  seal,  on  account  of  its 
oiliness.  The  Highlanders,  who  carried  knives  and  forks,  politely  cut 
the  meat  for  the  ladies.  The  want  of  these  utensils,  so  indispensable 
in  modern  society,  is  not  felt  by  those  who  are  unaccustomed  to  their 
use,  nay,  they  are  considered  ridiculous  assistants  ;  so  much  are  we 
under  the  influence  of  custom.  Among  the  Arabs,  there  are  no  such 
articles  as  knives,  forks,  or  spoons,  but  all  sorts  of  victuals  are  taken 
up  in  the  hands,  a  mode  of  feeding  at  which  Europeans  are  extremely 
awkward:  "  Poor  creatures  !"  exclaimed  they,  on  observing  some  of 
our  countrymen,  who  recently  visited  them,  with  so  much  difficulty 
taking  up  curdled  milk  in  their  hands,  "they  do  not  even  know  how  to 
eat  ;  they  eat  like  camels  !" 

Diodorus  and  Athenceus  give  curious  and  not  unpleasing  pictures  of 
the  Celtic  manner  of  conducting  feasts.  The  former  says,  "  at  their 
meals,  they  sit  upon  the  ground,  on  which  wolves'  or  dogs'  skins  are 
spread  ;  near  at  hand,  are  their  fire-places,  with  many  pots  and  spits, 
full  of  joints  of  meat,  and  they  are  served  by  young  girls  and  boys," 
their  feasts  continuing  until  midnight. J  No  one  touched  any  thing 
until  the  master  of  the  house,  or  chief  person,  had  first  tasted  of  all  the 
dishes.^  Among  the  Germans,  every  man  sat  by  himself,  on  a  partic- 
ular seat,  and  at  a  separate  table. ||  Strabo  says,  most  of  the  Gauls  took 
their  meals  sitting  on  rush  beds  or  cushions.  When  a  company  could 
agree,  they  sat  down  to  supper  in  a  circle.  In  the  middle  sat  he  who 
was  reckoned  most  worthy,  either  from  his  rank  or  valor,  and  next  to  him 
was  placed  the  person  who  gave  the  entertainment.  The  others  were 
arranged,  each  according  to  his  rank.  Behind  the  guests  stood  some 
who  bore  shields,  a  number  of  spearmen  sat  in  a  circle  opposite  to  the 
others,  and  both  took  meat  with  their  lords.  The  Celts  offered  their 
libations  upon  wooden  tables,  brought  in,  we  are  told,  neat  and  clean, 
being  raised  a  little  above  the  ground,  and  covered  with  hay.  It  was 
the  custom  to  put  the  bread,  broken  into  many  pieces,  on  the  table, 
with  flesh  out  of  the  caldron,  of  all  which  the  king  or  chief  first  tasted. 

*  Froissart's  Chronicles,  vol.  iv.  c.  84. — Johnes's  edition, 
t  Beckmann's  History  of  Inventions.  t  Marcel. 

§  Herodotus,  iv.  ap.  Montf.  ||  Tacitus 


HIGHLAND  BANQUET. 


S4\ 


Some  would  take  up  whole  joints  with  both  hands,  and  tear  them  in 
pieces  with  their  teeth  ;  but  if  the  flesh  were  too  tough,  they  cut  it 
with  a  little  knife,  which  was  kept  in  a  sheath,  in  a  certain  place  near 
at  hand.  Boys  served  round  the  wine,  both  right  and  left,  in  earthen 
or  silver  pots.  The  company  drank  very  leisurely,  frequently  tasting, 
but  not  taking  more  at  a  time  than  a  glassful.  After  supper,  they 
sometimes  engaged  in  sword  play,  challenging  each  other  to  friendly 
combat,  in  which  they  only  joined  their  extended  hands  and  points  of 
their  swords,  without  injury,  but  sometimes  they  began  to  fight  in  earnest, 
wounding  each  other  ;  in  which  case,  they  became  irritated,  and,  if  the 
others  did  not  interfere,  they  fought  till  death.  In  former  times,  also, 
the  strongest  would  take  up  the  limbs  of  cattle,  and,  if  challenged  by 
any,  they  fought  with  swords  until  one  was  killed.* 

In  Celtiberia,  the  lights  were  brought  in  by  boys,  who  cried  out 
"  vincamus;"'f  and,  speaking  of  lights,  it  may  be  noticed  that  the  sub- 
stitute for  a  candle  among  the  Gael,  and  Scots  farmers  generally,  is  a 
slip  of  the  resinous  fir  wood,  dug  out  of  the  mosses,  and  dried.  This 
is  called  Gius  puil,  or  blair,  and  is  held  beside  the  guid  man  during 
meals,  by  the  younger  branches  of  the  family.  It  would  seem  that, 
anciently,  the  chiefs  had  servants  for  the  purpose  of  holding  their  rude 
flambeaux  ;  and  a  story  is  related  of  an  Earl  of  Braidalbane  showing 
some  English  friends  these  torch-bearers,  in  proof  that  he  possessed 
much  more  valuable  chandeliers  than  those  of  silver  exhibited  to  him  in 
the  South.  Old  Gaelic  poems  mention  wax  candles  as  in  use.  The 
Master  of  the  Lights,  an  officer  in  the  King  of  Wales'  household,  was 
obliged  to  hold  a  taper  near  the  king's  dish,  when  eating. 

An  ancient  and  common  way  among  the  Highlanders,  of  illuminating 
their  dwellings,  is  this  : — The  quantity  of  gius  required  for  the  night  is 
split  in  the  morning  from  the  roots,  heaped  near  the  peat-stack,  and  is 
placed  on  the  Suacan,  and  suspended  at  a  convenient  distance  over  the 
fire,  to  be  thoroughly  dried.  At  the  close  of  the  day's  labor,  the  duine, 
literally  the  man,  as  the  head  of  every  family  is  emphatically  called, 
takes  his  seat  close  by  the  headstone  of  the  fire,  which  is  an  oblong  solid 
square,  generally  about  three  feet  long,  three  feet  high,  and  one  and  a 
half  broad,  placed  at  the  back  of  the  hearth.  As  soon  as  it  is  dark,  the 
duine  kindles  the  solus,  or  light,  by  putting  a  large  burning  coal  on  the 
top  of  the  headstone,  and  laying  some  of  the  dry  resinous  slips  upon  it. 
This  he  continues  to  feed,  by  adding  a  fresh  one  or  two  ;  and  such  a 
light  will  illuminate  a  large  apartment  better  than  six  good  tallow 
candles. 

The  entertainment  of  James  V.  by  the  Earl  of  Athol,  when  on  a 
hunting  visit,  as  before  noticed,  was  an  extraordinary  occasion  ;  but  as 
it  is  characteristic  of  the  manners  of  the  time,  and  as  the  various  provi- 
sions are  minutely  detailed  in  the  historian's  quaint  style,  it  is  desira- 

*  Ritson,  Mem.  of  the  Celts,  211.  This  seems  what  Athenaeus  calls  waging  war  for 
meat  and  drink.  t  Amm.  Marc.  xvi.  4. 


342 


HIGHLAND  BANQUET.— BEES. 


ble  to  insert  his  account.  "  There  were  all  kinds  of  drink,  as  ale,  beer, 
wine,  both  white  and  claret,  Malvasy,  Muskadel,  Hippocras,  and  Aqua- 
vitae.  Further,  there  was  of  meats,  .wheatbread,  mainbread,  and 
gingerbread,  with  fleshes,  beef,  mutton,  lamb,  veal,  venison,  goose, 
grice,  capon,  coney,  cran,  swan,  partridge,  plover,  duck,  drake,  brissel 
cock  and  pawnies,  black  cock  and  muir  fowl,  capercoilies;  and  also  the 
stanks  that  were  round  about  the  palace  were  full  of  all  delicate  fishes, 
as  salmonds,  trouts,  pearches,  pikes,  eels,  and  all  other  kind  of  delicate 
fishes  that  could  be  gotten  in  fresh  waters;  and  all  ready  for  the  banquet. 
Syne  were  there  proper  stewards,  cunning  baxters,  excellent  cooks  and 
pottingars,  with  confections  and  drugs  for  their  deserts;  and  the  halls 
and  chambers  were  prepared  with  costly  bedding,  vessels  and  napry 
according  for  a  king;  so  that  he  wanted  none  of  his  orcfers  more  than  he 
had  been  at  home  in  his  own  palace.  The  king  remained  in  this  wilder- 
ness the  space  of  three  days  and  three  nights,  and  his  company.  I 
heard  men  say  it  cost  the  Earl  of  Athol  every  day,  in  expenses,  a  thous- 
and pounds.  The  ambassador  of  the  Pope,  seeing  this  banquet  and 
triumph,  which  was  made  in  a  wilderness,  where  there  was  no  town 
near  by  twenty  miles,  thought  it  a  great  marvel  that  such  a  thing  should, 
be  in  Scotland,  and  that  there  should  be  such  honesty  and  policy  in  it, 
especially  in  the  Highland,  where  there  was  but  wood  and  wilderness. 
But  most  of  all,  this  ambassador  marvelled  to  see,  when  the  king  depart- 
ed, and  all  his  men  took  their  leave,  the  Highlandmen  set  all  this  place 
in  a  fire,  that  the  king  and  ambassador  might  see  it.  Then  the  ambas- 
sador said  to  the  king,  '  I  marvel,  sir,  that  you  should  thole  yon  fair  place 
to  be  burnt  that  your  Grace  has  been  so  well  lodged  in;'  then  the  king 
answered  and  said,  '  It  is  the  use  of  our  Highlandmen,  though  they  be 
never  so  well  lodged,  to  burn  their  lodging  when  they  depart."* 

Water  is  the  natural  drink  of  mankind,  but  the  art  of  rendering  it 
pleasant,  or  increasing  its  strength  by  the  addition  of  various  ingredients, 
is  found  among  people  in  the  lowest  scale  of  civilisation.  A  very  simple 
method  of  producing  an  agreeable  beverage  is  by  the  admixture  of  other 
substances,  and  we  find  the  Gauls  steeping  honeycombs  in  water,  and 
the  Celtiberi  using  drinks  made  of  honey. 

It  here  becomes  necessary  to  say  something  of  this  article,  the  excel- 
lent succedaneum  for  sugar.  "Of  all  the  insect  tribes,  none  have 
engrossed  so  much  attention  as  bees.  Their  social  habits,  and  indefatiga- 
ble industry,  must  have  excited  the  admiration"  of  mankind  in  the  most 
early  ages.  Their  delicious  stores  must  have  equally  soon  attracted 
attention.  The  Celtae  certainly  employed  themselves  in  the  manage- 
ment of  bees,  their  honey  being  in  much  request  for  mixture  with 
different  liquors,  and  Pliny  observes,  that  the  combs  were  largest  among 
the  Northern  nations,  noticing  one  found  in  Germany  eight  feet  long, 
which,  he  says,  was  black  inside.  In  Spain,  which  according  to  Dio- 
dorus,  abounded  in  honey,  it  had  a  flavor  of  broom,  from  the  great 


*  Pitscottie,  p.  147,  fol.  ed. 


HOiNEY  DRINK.— MEAD.— MILK. 


343 


quantities  of  that  shrub.  In  this  country  the  people  were  accustomed, 
when  the  flowers  became  insufficient  to  afford  the  requisite  supply  for 
the  bees,  to  remove  with  their  hives  to  a  more  desirable  situation,  in  the 
same  manner  that  a  pastoral  people  did  with  their  flocks.*  The  Britons 
kept  considerable  numbers  of  these  useful  insects.  In  Ireland  the  Bre- 
hon  laws  provided  for  their  careful  protection,  and  in  the  Isle  of  Man  it 
is  still  a  capital  crime  to  steal  them.  Ireland  was  celebrated  for  swarms 
of  bees,  and  abundance  of  honey,  and  the  monks,  in  the  fourth  century, 
according  to  Ware,  had  an  allowance  of  a  certain  quantity  in  the  comb 
fresh  from  the  hive.  The  CeUic  Britons  kept  their  bees  in  a  bascaud 
formed  of  willow  plaited. f  About  fifty  years  ago  one  of  these  was  found 
in  Lanishaw  Moss,  and  about  eighteen  years  since  another  was  discov- 
ered, about  six  feet  under  ground,  in  Chat's  Moss,  both  in  Lancashire. 
This  last  was  a  cone  of  two  yards  and  a  half  high,  and  one  in  diameter 
at  bottom,  and  was  divided  into  four  floors  or  separate  hives,  to  which 
were  doors  sufficiently  large  to  admit  one's  hand.  The  whole  was 
formed  of  unpeeled  willows,  and  contained  combs  and  complete  bees. 
These  were  larger  than  the  present  species,  J  which  may  perhaps  account 
for  the  great  size  of  those  combs  noticed  by  Pliny. 

Scotland  was  formerly  called  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  but  it  hardly 
deserves  the  latter  appellation  in  these  days.  In  most  parts  of  the 
Highlands  about  fifty  years  ago,  a  farmer  had  two  or  three  hives  that 
remunerated  him  very  well  for  the  trouble  attending  the  management. 
It  is  not  so  now,  which  is  matter  of  surprise,  the  abundance  of  heath  af- 
fording so  plentiful  a  field  for  the  collection  of  honey,  at  no  expense;  and 
it  is  well  known  that  what  is  gathered  from  the  heaths  is  much  preferable 
to  that  which  is  extracted  from  garden  flowers.  The  Highland  Society  of 
Scotland  is,  at  this  time,  endeavoring  to  extend  the  culture  of  these  use- 
ful insects  throughout  the  country.^  That  the  Highlanders  had  ancient- 
ly a  liquor  made  from  honey,  appears  from  ancient  allusion  to  it.  It  is 
probable  that  the  beverage  was  similar  to  metheglin,  or  mead,  called 
mil  dheoch  by  the  Gael.  This  excellent  liquid  is  made  by  boiling  honey 
and  water  in  certain  proportions,  subjecting  it  to  fermentation;  and  the 
Welsh,  who  have  different  ways  of  making  it,  and  have  used  it  from 
early  times,  derive  its  name  from  medclyg,  medicinal,  and  lyn,  drink. 
The  mead  maker  ranked  the  eleventh  person  in  the  household  of  the 
kings  of  Wales.  The  famed  Athole  brose  is  a  mixture  of  whisky  and 
honey,  with  a  little  oatmeal. 

Milk,  so  easily  procured  by  a  pastoral  people,  is  a  common  and  ex- 
cellent drink  by  itself,  and  affords,  in  its  different  states,  a  pleasant 

*  Pliny,  xi.  8,  xxi.  13. 

i  Kauelh,  in  Welsh  a  large  basket,  is,  in  Cornish,  a  bee-hive. 
+  Whitaker's  Hist,  of  Manchester. 

§  Many  sup'^rstitions  formerly  prevalent,  still  exist  concerning  bees.  In  Devonshire 
they  are  never  paid  for  in  money;  never  moved  but  on  Good  Friday;  and,  on  occasion 
of  a  funeral,  the  hives  are  carefully  turned  round. — Brande's  Pop.  Ant.  ii.  202.  Ellis's 
ed.    From  Domesday  book  we  find  the  Gustos  apium  was  a  person  of  some  note. 


944 


CURMI  AND  ZYTHUS. 


refreshment.  The  making  of  butter  produces  whey,  a  wholesome  liquor, 
which  some  of  the  Highlanders,  Buchanan  says,  boiled  and  kept  in 
hogsheads  under  ground  for  several  months,  by  which  it  was  rendered 
a  very  agreeable  beverage.*  Sweet  cream  mixed  with  butter-milk  is 
delicious.  The  Irish  are  said  to  be  peculiarly  fond  of  the  latter,  but  they 
formerly  used  a  great  deal  of  other  milk,  whey,  and  broth. 

The  infusion  of  herbs  in  the  formation  of  cordials  must  have  been 
practised  in  the  most  early  ages,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Gaelic 
lusadh,  drinking,  is  derived  from  lus,  an  herb,  or  plant.  Boece  says  the 
old  Scots  were  moderate  drinkers,  using  chiefly  infusions  or  mixtures 
of  thyme,  mint,  anise,  &c. 

The  Celtiberi,  at  their  festivals,  had  a  certain  liquor  in  the  composi- 
tion of  which  no  fewer  than  five  score  diflTerent  herbs  were  employed, 
but  no  one  appeared  to  know  precisely  the  particular  ingredients  of 
this  famous  wassail,  although  every  one  understood  that  it  required 
one  hundred  articles,  if  properly  prepared,  as  its  name  implied.  This 
name  has  not  been  preserved,  but  we  are  told  the  mixture  was  esteemed 
the  most  sweet  and  wholesome  of  drinks. f  The  people  of  the  Scilly 
Islands  are  fond  of  distilling  various  flowers  and  herbs,  to  mix  in  their 
liquors,  and  they  take  special  care  to  gather  them  at  a  certain  age 
of  the  moon.  J 

The  art  of  making  strong  liquors  seems  to  be  one  of  the  first  acquire- 
ments of  mankind;  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  in  the  rudest  state 
of  society,  substances,  or  mixtures  to  produce  intoxication  have  been 
discovered.  Before  wine  became  known  to  the  Gauls  they  appropriated 
much  of  their  corn  for  the  production  of  an  excellent  beverage.  The 
nations  of  Western  Europe — Gauls,  Germans,  Celtiberians,  and  Brit- 
ons made  liquors  of  two  sorts  from  grain  steeped  in  water,  which  were 
denominated  curmi  and  zythus,  answering  to  the  modern  ale  and  beer.^ 
Schospflin  thinks  zythus  was  the  British  cider,  ||  in  which  he  is  evident- 
ly wrong.  The  Gaelic  suthan,  juice,  clearly  shows  its  relationship  to 
the  ancient  Celtic  term.  The  Britons,  Dioscorides  says,  drank  the 
strong  liquor  called  curmi,  a  word  long  retained  by  the  Gael  in  its 
original  acceptation,  being  the  curwi  of  the  Welsh,  which  is  their  name  for 
ale.  Ol  elmi,  I  drink,  is  the  expression  of  a  modern  Highlander, IT  and 
it  is  not  a  little  curious.  Ol  is  ale,  and  el,  in  ancient  German,  signified 
water;**  from  which  original  term  the  alica,  a  drink  of  the  Britons, 
apparently  a  sort  of  gruel  or  frumenty  and  other  names  originated. 
The  Highlanders  substituted  loin,  or  lain,  provisions,  for  the  ancient 

*  Lib.  i.    It  seems  to  be  what  Perlin  calls  "  force  laict." 

I  Pliny,  XXV.  8.  t  Troutbeck. 

§  The  Egyptians  made  a  similar  liquor.  Where  vines  would  not  grow,  says 
Diodorus,  Osiris,  or  Bacchus,  taught  the  inhabitants  to  make  drink  from  barley. 
Lib.  i.  2.  iv.  i.  In  lllyricum,  the  liquor  made  from  grain  was  called  Sabaia.  Marcelhnus. 

II  Alsatia  illust.  p.  G4.  IT  Sir  J.  Foulis,  of  Colintoun. 
**  Cannegieteri  Diss,  de  Brittemburgo. 


HEATH  ALE. 


name  of  this  liquor,  not  an  inapt  term  for  what  is  in  modern  times 
called  ''liquid  bread." 

Corma  appears  to  have  been  zythus  made  without  the  addition  of 
honey.*  Marcellinus  mentions  garaus  as  a  drink  of  the  Germans  in  the 
time  of  Valens,!  and  in  Spain  they  used  ccelia  and  ceria,  or  cervisia, 
which  Whitaker  tells  us  signify  strong  water.  The  Gauls  drank  the 
strongest  ale  with  water,  and  the  Celtiberia  made  it  to  keep  for  a  con- 
siderable time. J  Whether  the  Caledonians  could  make  malt  liquors 
so  early  as  we  find  them  in  use  by  the  south  Britons,  is  not  known,  but 
curmi  was  drank  in  the  third  century,  and  was  common  in  the  sixth. ^ 

The  Picts  are  celebrated  for  possessing  an  art  whereby  they  extract- 
ed a  delicious  drink  from  the  tops  and  blossoms  of  heath,  which  it  is 
believed  was  lost  with  their  supposed  extirpation.  This  is  related  by 
the  national  historians,  and  is  preserved  in  popular  tradition  throughout 
Scotland  ;  the  story  representing  the  secret  as  last  remaining  with  a 
father  and  son,  prisoners  to  Kenneth  Mac  Alpin,  who  were  urged  by 
the  promise  of  liberty  and  liberal  rewards,  to  impart  their  valuable 
knowledge  to  the  Scots.  The  father,  after  long  solicitation,  expressed 
himself  willing  to  accede  to  their  proposals,  on  condition  that  his  son 
should  previously  be  put  to  death,  which  request  being  unsuspectingly 
complied  with,  the  stern  Pict  told  his  enemies  they  might  also  put  him 
to  death,  for  he  could  never  be  prevailed  on  to  disclose  a  secret  known 
only  to  himself  The  enraged  Scots,  as  may  be  supposed,  speedily 
sacrificed  the  obstinate  captive.  Many  extensive  tracts  of  Muir  are 
observable  that  are  level  and  free  from  stones,  and  they  are  believed 
to  have  been  the  fields  cleared  by  the  Picts  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
hoath,  which  they  mowed  down  when  in  bloom.  This  shrub,  I  have 
been  told,  may,  by  a  certain  process,  produce  a  good  spirit,  and  a 
pleasant  liquor  is  often  made  in  the  Highlands  chiefly  from  its  flowers, 
but  it  differs  from  the  ancient  beverage,  in  having  the  additions  of  honey 
or  sugar  with  other  ingredients,  whereas  the  heather  ale  of  the  Picts,  it 
is  thought,  required  nothing  extraneous  to  bring  it  to  perfection.  In 
the  Highlands  it  was  an  almost  invariable  practice,  when  brewing,  to 
put  a  quantity  of  the  green  tops  of  heath  in  the  mash  tub,  and  when  the 
plant  is  in  bloom  it  adds  much  to  the  strength  and  flavor  of  the  beer. 
The  roots,  also,  will  improve  its  qualities,  for  they  are  of  a  liquorice 
sweetness,  but  their  astringency  requires  them  to  be  used  with  caution. 

Herb  ale  was  a  favorite  "  brewst"  with  the  women  of  olden  times. 
An  ancient  matron,  whose  grandmother  had  made  it,  has  often  descant- 
ed to  me  on  its  excellence,  alleging  that  those  who  drank  heartily  of  it 
became  speckled  in  the  face  like  a  salmon.  Being  only  a  child  when 
this  was  observed,  she  could  not  say  what  were  the  ingredients,  but  as 
her  ancestors  were  natives  of  Buchan,  where  the  descendants  of  the  an- 
cient Picts,  according  to  Pinkerton,  are  to  be  found,  the  secret  was  not, 

*  Athenaeus,  iv.  t  Lib.  xxvii.  i.  t  Pliny,  xiv.  22,  xviii.  7. 

§  Scrip.  Hist.  August,  p.  942,  ap.  Low's  History  of  Scotland. 

44 


346 


BREWING.— WHISKY. 


perhaps,  entirely  lost.*  I  am  assured  by  a  native  of  the  Highlands, 
that  he  could  make  beer,  equal  to  the  best  malt  liquor,  from  ingredi- 
ents furnished  entirely  by  the  Scotish  mountains. 

Perlin  describes  the  Scots  as  regaling  themselves  with  "  bierre,  god 
alles,  and  alles."  They  were  partial  to  malt  liquor,  and  the  old  farmers 
used  much  more  of  it  than  their  successors,  and  made  it  of  a  superior 
quality.  Even  the  poorer  sort  brewed  their  own  ale,  sometimes  using 
no  other  utensils  than  a  common  pot,  and  pail,  or  tub.  Hops  were 
unknown  to  the  old  Highlanders,  and  are  not  used  by  many  even  yet. 
The  corr  mheill  root  was,  no  doubt,  an  excellent  substitute,!  but  a 
common  infusion  was  wormwood.  A  curious  method  of  preserving 
yeast  was  used  in  the  Isles.  A  rod  of  oak,  which  was  to  be  cut  before 
the  middle  of  May,  from  four  to  eight  inches  long,  and'  twisted  round 
like  a  wyth,  was  boiled  in  the  wort,  and  when  dried  was  kept  in  a 
bundle  of  barley  straw  until  wanted  for  use,  when,  being  steeped  in  the 
liquor,  it  produced  fermentation.  Martin  says  he  saw  one  that  had 
served  the  purpose  no  less  than  thirty  years. 

Brewing  devolved  on  the  Celtic  females,  and  the  Saxons  observed 
the  same  rule;  it  is  only  in  recent  times  that  the  business  has  been  done 
by  men,  malt  liquor  being  formerly  made  and  sold  by  the  women. 
The  "  ale  wife"  was,  at  one  time,  synonymous  in  England  with  the 
keeper  of  a  "  pot  house" — in  Scotland  the  appellation  is  still  expressive 
of  the  landlady  of  a  "change  house."  A  curious  old  Scots  statute 
respecting  "  wemen  wha  brewis  aill  to  be  sauld,"  ordains  "  gif  she 
makis  evil  aill,  and  is  convict  thereof,  she  sail  pay  an  unlaw  of  aucht 
shillings,  or  she  sail  be  put  upon  the  cuckstule,  and  the  aill  sauld  to 
be  distribute  to  the  pure  folk." 

Dr.  Smith  thinks  the  Caledonians  had  a  drink  formed  by  a  fermenta- 
tion of  parts  of  the  birch  tree.  It  is  well  known  that  the  birch  furnishes 
the  strongest  and  most  pleasant  of  all  British  wines,  but  whether  the 
old  Highlanders  knew  this  I  cannot  say;  few  of  their  descendants  are 
aware  of  it,  and,  notwithstanding  popular  belief,  there  is  reason  to 
think  the  opinion  that  spirits  were  made  of  this  tree,  is  not  well 
grounded. 

Whisky,  so  common  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  so  much  esteemed,  and 
produced  in  such  excellence,  by  the  Celts  of  both  countries,  is  well 
known,  and  the  art  of  making  it  was  probably  possessed  from  an  early 
period  by  the  Gael,  who  have  so  long  been  celebrated  as  distillers  of 
the  "  mountain  dew."  It  is,  however,  a  matter  of  dispute  with  antiqua- 
ries whether  it  be  a  late  invention  or  of  ancient  origin.  Ware  inclines 
to  the  former  opinion,  and  Pinkerton  says  it  became  known  perhaps 
three  centuries  ago. J    Uisge-beatha  is  literally  aqua  vitje,  water  of 

*  Augsburg  beer,  so  much  esteemed  in  Germany,  is  said  to  owe  its  excellence  to 
aven's  roots,  geum  urbanum,  that  are  put  into  it. 
i  Pennant  says  a  fermented  liquor  was  made  of  it. 
t  Enquiry  ii.  144.    In  1599  it  was  a  favorite  beverage  of  the  Irish, 


WINE. 


347 


life;  whisky  is  a  corrupt  pronunciation  of  the  first  part  of  the  lorm. 
Trestarig  is  whisky  three  times  distilled,  which  is  reckoned  an  excel- 
lent spirit,  and  uisge  beatha  haul  is  four  times  distilled,  of  whirh  two 
spoonfuls  is  enough  to  drink  at  one  time.*  Whisky,  illicitly  distilled, 
is  termed  in  Ireland  potteen,  and  in  Scotland  pot  dhu,  that  is  the  small 
pot  and  the  black  pot,  in  allusion  to  the  vessel  in  which  the  wash  is 
boiled.  The  superior  excellence  of  small  still  whisky  is  believed  to  be 
owing,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  regular  coolness  of  the  pipes,  which 
is  effected  by  introducing  a  small  stream  of  water,  which  flows  through 
the  bothy  v/here  the  spirit  is  made. 

The  Gauls  were  excessively  fond  of  wine,  which  their  own  country 
did  not,  it  is  said,  in  early  ages,  produce.  It  is  evident  from  Possidon- 
ius,  Strabo,  and  Martial,  that  the  grape  was  cultivated  by  the  Celts,  but 
they  do  not  appear  to  have  understood  how  to  make  wine.  The  climate 
could  not  have  been  an  obstacle  to  its  manufacture,  for  the  districts 
famed  for  the  best  varieties  have  long  been  the  northern  provinces  of 
France. f  The  Celtiberians,  according  to  Diodorus,  also  bought  their 
wine,  but  Pliny  mentions  a  vine  called  cocolobin,  famed  for  a  medicinal 
drink  which  it  afforded. J  The  berry  called  fionag,  literally  wine-berry,  is 
produced  in  great  abundance  in  the  mountains  of  Scotland.  It  is  about 
the  size  of  a  Zante  currant,  of  the  same  color,  and  equally  juicy  and 
sweet.  It  also  bears  the  appellation  dearcag  fithich,  crow-berry,  but  the 
above  is  the  proper  name,  and  from  its  being  called  wine-berry,  it  is  clear 
that  wine  must,  at  some  period,  have  been  procured  from  it  by  the  Gael, 
unless  we  may  suppose  that  that  people  came  immediately  from  a  grape- 
producing  country  into  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  from  the  resem- 
blance of  the  crow-berry  to  the  grape,  imposed  that  name  upon  it.  I 
have  no  doubt,  however,  but  good  wine  may  be  procured  from  it  without 
the  addition  of  sugar. 

The  Gauls  imported  large  quantities  of  wine  from  other  countries, 
and  they  are  represented  as  drinking  it  with  avidity  as  soon  as  they  re- 
ceived it.  The  Roman  merchants  encouraged  an  intemperance  by 
which  they  made  immense  profits,  and  supplied  the  Gauls  with  abun- 
dance of  wine,  both  by  the  navigable  rivers  and  land  carriage.  The 
trade  was  most  lucrative  ;  for  so  inordinately  fond  were  they  at  one  time 
of  this  excellent  liquor,  that  they  purchased  it  at  any  cost,  and  did  not 
hesitate  to  give  a  boy  in  exchange  for  a  hogshead. §  They  often  drank  it 
to  such  excess,  that  they  continued,  at  times,  "  wrapped  in  wild  and  wan- 
dering cogitations,"  and  even  became  stark  mad  ;  yet,  perceiving  these 
strange  effects,  they  began  to  believe  that  the  use  of  wine  was  highly 
improper,  and  TuUy,  in  pleading  for  Fonteius,  says,  they  had  resolved  to 
dilute  it  with  water  henceforth,  because  they  thought  it  poison. |j  The 

*  Martin. 

t  In  1808  there  were  nearly  four  millions  of  acres  occupied  in  vineyards,  and  there 
are  1400  different  wines  in  that  country. 

f  Lib.  xiv.  2  §  Diodorus,  v.  H  Amm.  Mar.  xv.  10. 


348  DRINKING. 

Germans  on  the  Rhine  dealt  largely  in  this  article,  and  were  equally 
remarkable  for  their  intemperate  use  of  it.  They  would  continue  drink- 
ing night  and  day,  and  the  broils  that  constantly  attended  their  debauch- 
es, commonly  ended  in  maiming  and  slaughter.  The  Gauls  in  Asdrubal's 
service,  having  procured  a  large  quantity  of  wine,  made  themselves 
raging  drunk,  when  the  army  being  attacked  by  the  consul  Caecilius, 
was,  in  consequence,  completely  overthrown.*  From  the  charge  of 
debasing  themselves  in  this  way,  the  Nervians  must  be  excluded,  as  the 
importation  of  wine  into  their  territories  was  strictly  prohibited.  The 
Scythians  are  stigmatized  as  very  intemperate,  and  gave  rise  to  the  say- 
ing of  the  Greeks,  "  let  us  drink  like  the  Scyths,"  when  they  meant  to 
indulge  themselves  immoderately. |  A  remark  of  one  of  their  ambassa- 
dors, however,  that  the  thirst  of  the  Parthians  increased  as  they  deep- 
ened their  potations,  J  does  not  countenance  the  charge  of  drunkenness. 
A  favorite  beverage  of  the  rich  Gauls  was  a  mixture  of  wine  and  water, 
called  dercoma;  they  also  put  salt,  vinegar,  and  cumin  in  wine,  ingre- 
dients which  likewise  formed  a  sauce  for  fish.  Wine  appears  to  have 
been  very  early  known  to  the  Highlanders,  from  its  mention  in  old 
poems.  It  was  formerly  plentiful  in  Scotland,  being  chiefly  procured 
from  France,  and  was  both  good  and  cheap.  Before  the  laws  regulat- 
ing the  importation  of  Port  affected  that  part  of  his  Majesty's  dominions, 

 "  the  free-born  Scotsman  stood, 

Old  was  his  mutton  and  his  claret  good  ; 
Drink  Port !  the  English  legislator  cried, 
He  drank  the  poison,  and  his  spirit  died."§ 

The  vessels  out  of  which  the  Caledonians  drank,  were  the  corn  or 
horn,  the  sliga  or  shell,  and  the  fuach  or  cup.  Kega&ai,  the  expression 
of  Athenaeus,  translated,  pour  our  the  drink,  is,  literally,  horn  the 
liquor,  the  horn  of  animals  being  apparently  the  first  articles  converted 
into  drinking-cups.  Those  used  by  the  Highlanders  are  sometimes 
mounted  with  silver,  or  otherwise  ornamented,  and  are  usually  formed 
of  a  portion  of  the  horn,  to  which  the  ruder  sort  have  a  cork  or  wooden 
bottom.  The  chiefs  were  accustomed  to  use  a  whole  horn,  of  large  size, 
and  richly  ornamented,  chiefly  to  be  offered  to  visiters  as  a  mark  of  res- 
pect, or  as  a  trial  of  their  abilities.  It  was  the  object  to  take  off*  the 
contents  at  once;  and  if  this  was  not  done,  the  remainder  in  the  horn, 
discovered  the  failure  by  the  noise  which  it  made  in  the  sinuosities,  on 
which  the  company  immediately  called  out,  corneigh,  the  horn  cries; 
when  the  party  was  obliged  to  refill  it,  and  drink  Celtic,  i.  e.  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  Celts. ||  At  Dunvegan,  in  Sky,  the  ancient  seat  of 
the  chiefs  of  Macleod,  is  an  ox  horn  of  this  sort,  finely  mounted  with  sil- 
ver, which  was  borne  on  the  arm,  and  its  mouth  being  brought  over  the 
elbow,  the  contents  were  drank  off.     The  choicest  liquors  were  served 

*  Diod.  Fragment,  xxxiii.    Ritson.  t  Herod,  vi.  84. 

t  Pliny  xiv.  22.  §  Home. 

II  Foulis,  in  Trans,  of  Scots  Antiquaries,  i.  The  Hirlas  horn  of  the  Welsh  appears 
to  be  a  similar  article. 


imiNKING. 


349 


round  in  shells,  whence  the  expressions  to  rejoice  in  the  shell,  and  feast 
of  shells.  They  were  cockles,  held  with  the  thumb  placed  on  the  hinge 
part,  and  continued  in  use  by  the  Highlanders  until  lately.  Whisky 
was  filled  out  in  a  shell,  at  Mr.  Mac  Swein's,  in  the  Isle  of  Coll,  in 
1773.*  After  the  disuse  of  natural  shells,  some  made  of  silver  were  re- 
tained. The  Picts  appear,  from  Adomnan,  to  have  had  drinking-glasses. 
The  Highlanders  used  wooden  cups;  but  the  usual  article  for  ale  was 
the  maighder,  a  round  vessel,  with  two  handles,  as  represented  in  the 
vignette,  by  which  it  was  carried  to  the  head.  The  quach,  so  named 
from  cu,  round,  is  formed  of  different  colored  pieces  of  wood,  in  manner 
of  cooper's  work,  but  the  staves  are  joined  together  by  mutual  insertions, 
presenting  a  very  pretty  appearance,  and  they  are,  besides,  often  hooped 
with  silver.  Plenty  of  liquor  was  of  great  importance  at  festivals.  With- 
out this  adjunct,  as  an  author  said  of  the  Irish  coshering,  it  could  be  no 
feast;  the  truth  of  which  is  proved  by  the  term  which  the  Highlanders 
apply  to  a  great  entertainment:  they  call  it  curme,  the  very  word  by 
which  the  strong  liquor,  at  first  confined  to  the  household  of  a  chief,  is 
distinguished. 

The  bach-lamhal,  or  cup-bearer,  was  a  high  office  among  the  Gael, 
and,  like  the  steward  of  the  household  in  Wales,  tasted  all  liquors.  The 
smith,  among  the  latter,  was  entitled  to  a  draught  of  every  sort  brought 
to  the  king's  table.  The  truliad,  or  butler,  who  had  the  custody  of  the 
king's  cellars,  was  the  eleventh  person  in  the  royal  establishment.  When 
a  guest  sat  down  at  the  table  of  a  Highland  chief,  he  was  first  presented 
with  a  draught  of  uisge  beatha  out  of  the  family  cup  or  shell,  and  when 
he  had  finished  this  cordial,  a  horn,  containing  about  a  quart  of  ale,  was 
given  him,  and  if  he  was  able  to  finish  it,  he  was  esteemed  a  good  fellow. "f 
Riche,  in  his  Irish  Hubbub,  describes  the  manner  of  drinking  among 
that  people:  One  standing  up  and  uncovering  his  head,  took  a  full  cup, 
and,  with  a  grave  countenance,  gave  the  name  of  the  party  whose  health 
was  to  be  drank,  and  he  who  was  pledged,  took  off  his  cap,  kissed  his 
fingers,  and  bowing  himself  **  in  signe  of  reverent  acceptance,"  the  lead- 
er took  off  his  glass,  and,  turning  the  bottom  up,  gave  it  "a  phillip,  to 
make  it  cry  twango."  The  bumpers  being  refilled,  the  person  whose 
health  had  been  drank  repeated  the  same  ceremony,  and  it  went  in  like 
manner  round  the  whole  company,  provided  there  were  three  uncovered 
until  it  had  made  the  circuit  of  the  table. 

The  love  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  a  vice  which  people  in  a  low  scale 
of  civilisation  are  prone  to.  The  Gauls,  who  drank  sparingly  of  their 
own  beverages,  indulged  to  excess  in  the  produce  of  the  Italian  vintage. 
The  Highlanders  can  enjoy  a  social  glass  as  much  as  any  persons;  but 
although  whisky  is  plentiful  with  them,  habitual  tippling  is  extremely 
rare,  and  there  is  a  proverb  which  speaks  their  contempt  of  those  who 
meet  for  the  sake  of  drinking  only.  The  renowned  Fingal,  who,  by  the 
by.  delivered  his  maxims  in  Triads,  said,  that  one  of  the  worst  things 

Boswell's  Journal  of  a  Tour.  *  Dr.  Mac  Pherson. 


350 


SNUFF-TAKH^G. 


which  could  happen  to  a  man  was  to  drink  curmi  in  the  morning.  Measg, 
mixture,  now  pronounced  meisg,  signifies  drunkenness,  apparently  from 
the  stupifying  effects  of  drinking  mixed  liquors.  A  gentleman  assured 
me  that,  in  the  parish  of  Lairg,  in  Ross-shire,  where  he  was  formerly 
resident,  there  was  but  one  person  addicted  to  drink;  and  a  native  of 
Laggan,  Inverness-shire,  knew  but  one  individual  in  that  part  who  was 
accustomed  to  intoxication:  these  characters  indulged  their  depraved 
tastes  in  solitude,  for  they  could  find  no  associates.  The  Highlanders 
seldom  met  for  a  carousal,  and  when  they  did  assemble  they  enjoyed 
themselves  very  heartily,  the  "  lawing,"  or  bill,  being  paid  by  a  general 
contribution,  for  which  a  bonnet  was  passed  around  the  company.  If, 
however,  the  Highlanders  seldom  met  to  drink  together,  it^must  be  con- 
fessed that  when  they  did  "forgather,"  they  were  inclined  to  prolong 
their  stay,  and  would  occasionally  spend  days  and  nights  over  the  bottle. 
Donald  Ross,  an  old  man,  full  of  amusing  anecdotes  of  the  gentlemen  of 
Sutherland  and  the  neighboring  counties,  used  to  dwell  with  particular 
pleasure  on  those  social  treats.  The  laird  of  Assynt,  on  one  occasion, 
having  come  down  to  Dunrobin,  v/as  accosted  by  the  smith  of  the  village, 
when  just  ready  to  mount  his  garron  and  set  off.  The  smith  being  an 
old  acquaintance,  and  the  laird,  like  the  late  Mac  Nab,  and  others  of 
true  Highland  blood,  thinking  it  no  derogation  from  his  dignity  to  ac 
cept  the  gobh's  invitation  to  take  deoch  an  doras,  a  draught  at  the  door, 
or  stirrup  cup,  for  every  glass  had  its  significant  appellation,  and  went 
into  the  house  where  the  smith  called  for  the  largest  jar  or  graybeard 
of  whisky,  a  pitcher  that  holds  perhaps  two  gallons,  meaning,  without 
doubt,  to  show  the  laird  that  when  they  parted,  it  should  not  be  for  want 
of  liquor.  "  Well,"  says  Donald,  "  they  continued  to  sit  and  drink,  and 
converse  on  various  matters,  and  the  more  they  talked,  the  more  sub- 
jects for  conversation  arose,  and  it  was  the  fourth  day  before  the  smith 
thought  of  his  shop,  or  the  laird  of  Assynt." 

It  is  customary  at  meetings  of  Highland  Societies  to  accompany  cer- 
tain toasts  with  "  Celtic  honors,"  that  are  thus  bestowed.  The  chief 
or  chairman,  standing  up,  gives  the  toast,  and  with  a  slight  wave  of  the 
hand,  repeats  three  times,  suas  e,  suas  e,  suas  e,  up  with  it,  up  with  it, 
up  with  it,  the  whole  company  also  standing,  and  joining  him  in  three 
short  huzzas.  This  is  repeated,  when  he  then  pronounces  the  word 
nish,  now,  also  three  times,  with  peculiar  emphasis,  in  which  he  is  join- 
ed by  the  company,  who  dwell  a  considerable  time  on  the  last  cheer. 
As  the  company  sit  down,  the  piper  strikes  up  an  appropriate  tune. 

Every  one  knows  that  the  Scots  are  fond  of  snuff,  and  the  figure  of  a 
Highlander  is  the  almost  invariable  symbol  of  a  snuff-shop.  How  they 
became  so  noted  for  their  partiality  to  "  sneeshin  "  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine; it  is  a  subject  that  has  hitherto  received  little  attention.  There 
is  a  tradition,  that  when  the  Black  Watch,  now  the  42nd  regiment,  first 
came  to  London,  the  men  were  so  constantly  calling  to  supply  themselves 
with  their  favorite  powder,  that  the  dealers  whose  snuff  had  met  with 


TOBACCO  AND  SNUFF. 


351 


their  patronage,  adopted  the  figure  of  a  Highlander  to  indicate  their 
business.  This  may  be  very  correct,  but  how  came  the  inhabitants  of 
the  remote  Highlands  and  Isles  so  speedily  to  bring  into  universal  use 
an  article  that  had  been  but  recently  introduced  in  England.'*  Sir  Wal- 
ter Raleigh  first  brought  tobacco  here,  about  1586,  and  we  know  that, 
like  all  innovations,  it  must  have  been  some  time  before  its  use  became 
common,  even  in  the  south;  yet,  in  a  poem  by  Mary  Mac  Leod,  of  the 
house  of  Dunvegan,  addressed  to  John  Mac  Leod,  brother  to  Sir  Nor- 
man, and  written  about  1600,  she  thanks  him  for  presenting  her  with  a 
bra  thombac,  or  tobacco  mill-stone. 

Now  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  the  Highlanders  could  have  received 
their  knowledge  of  this  plant  from  the  English,  or  that,  in  so  short  a 
time,  they  would  have  been,  not  only  reconciled,  but  proverbially  ad- 
dicted to  its  use.  The  strong  prejudice  which  the  Gael  have  to  inno- 
vation of  all  kinds,  even  emanating  from  a  less  objectionable  quarter 
than  the  Sassanach,  forbids  us  to  believe  that  their  snuff  was  connect- 
ed with  Raleigh's  discovery.  The  root  cormheille,  or  braonan  was 
chewed  like  tobacco  by  the  old  Highlanders,  and  may  have  been  smoked 
or  ground  to  snuff,  but  whatever  the  article  was,  it  is  certain  that  the 
Celts  were  accustomed  to  smoke,  and  their  pipes  have  been  frequently 
dug  up  both  in  Britain  and  Ireland.  They  were  discovered,  in  consid- 
erable numbers,  under  ground,  at  Brannockstown,  in  the  county  of  Kil- 
dare,  in  1784,  and  a  skeleton,  found  under  an  ancient  barrow,  had  a 
pipe  actually  sticking  between  its  teeth!*  Its  form  is  much  similar  to 
those  now  in  use,  only  of  an  oval  or  egg-shape.  Herodotus  says,  the  Scyths 
had  certain  herbs,  which  were  thrown  into  the  fire,  and  the  smoke  being 
inhaled  by  those  sitting  around,  it  affected  them  as  wine  did  the  Greeks. 
Strabo  tells  us,  a  certain  religious  sect  among  them  smoked  for  recrea- 
tion; and  Mela  and  Solinus|  plainly  describe  the  smoke  as  being  inhaled 
through  tubes.  The  Highlanders  appear  to  have  adopted  the  tobacco 
introduced  by  Raleigh  from  a  previous  addiction  to  a  native  herb  of 
similar  pungency,  and  they  are  said  to  have  formerly  grown  and  prepar- 
ed their  own  tobacco  in  a  very  judicious  manner,  drying  it  by  the  fire, 
and  grinding  both  stem  and  leaf,  making  a  snuff  not  unlike  what  is  now 
termed  Irish  blackguard.  They  are  so  partial  to  snuff,  that  a  supply 
ofitisoftena  sufficient  inducement  for  one  to  accompany  a  traveller 
across  extensive  tracts  of  mountain  or  muir.  The  mull,  as  the  neat  spi- 
ral horn,  represented  in  the  preceding  vignette,  in  which  they  carry 
their  snuff,  is  called  a  constant  companion,  and  they  take  much  pride  in 
ornamenting  it.  They  usually  carry  it  in  the  sporan,  or  purse,  but  it 
was  formerly  stuck  before  them  in  the  belt,  J  and  the  snuff  is  taken  by  a 
"pen,"  either  a  quill  or  small  spoon  of  tin,  brass,  or  silver,  attached  to 
it  by  a  chain  of  similar  metal.     The  large  ram's  horn,  with  its  appen- 

*  Anthologia  Hibernica,  i.  352,  where  there  is  a  print  of  it.  The  author  picked  up 
one,  thrown  out  of  a  recent  excavation  at  Primrose-hill,  near  London. 

f  C.  XV.    Brodigan  on  Tobacco,  &c.  t  Journey  through  Scotland,  1729. 


352  MEDICAL  KNOWLEDGE. 

dages,  as  represented  in  the  closing  vignette,  is  for  the  banqueting 
table,  and  usually  lies  before  the  chief,  who  occasionally  passes  it  to  the 
company.  This  utensil  is  usually  ornamented  in  a  very  costly  manner 
with  silver  and  precious  stones,  and  sometimes  both  horns  and  part  of 
the  skull  are  retained.  The  hammer  is  to  shake  the  snuff  from  the 
sides,  the  rake  is  to  bring  it  within  reach,  the  spike  is  to  break  it  if 
pressed  together,  the  hare's  foot  is  to  brush  away  any  particles  that  may 
be  dropped,  and  the  pen  is  to  convey  the  snufF  to  the  nose.  I  cannot 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  assertion,  that  the  large  horn  was  formerly 
carried  about  the  person. 

The  art  of  cookery  and  practice  of  medicine  were  formerly  very  inti- 
mately connected,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  to  be  regretted,  that  they  are  now 
disjoined.  Mankind,  in  a  rude  state  of  society,  entertain  a  superstitious 
opinion  of  the  healing  powers  of  herbs;  but  their  belief  is  not,  in  all  cases, 
groundless.  When  the  chief  occupations  of  a  people  are  the  pasturage 
of  tame  and  the  hunting  of  wild  beasts,  or  even  when  they  are  employed 
in  agriculture,  the  vegetable  kingdom,  so  constantly  under  their  obser- 
vation, is  the  wide  field  which  nature  spreads  before  them,  whence  they 
procure  the  simple  remedies  that  are  applied  to  their  diseases  and 
their  wounds.  Their  materia  medica  is  confined  to  roots  and  plants,  and, 
from  the  experience  of  ages,  they  acquire  a  considerable  knowledge  of 
their  sanative  properties;  the  brute  creation  have  even,  sometimes,  it  is 
related,  informed  mankind  of  the  medicinal  virtues  of  certain  plants;  a 
crow  is  said  to  have  led  the  Gauls  to  the  discovery  of  the  virtues  of 
coracion.*  It  is  easier  to  ascertain  the  properties  of  vegetables  than 
those  of  minerals.  From  the  vegetable  kingdom  are  still  procured  many 
valuable  specifics,  and  the  most  ancient  physicians  prescribed  no  other 
remedies  than  what  were  derived  from  herbs. | 

Untutored  savages  have  been  found  to  possess  valuable  secrets  in  the 
science  of  medicine,  where  the  prescriptions  were  the  natural  produce 
of  the  earth,  and  administered  almost  without  preparation;  but,  perhaps, 
the  repute  which  has  been,  in  some  cases,  attached  to  the  application  of 
simples,  has  arisen  as  much  fi-om  their  innocuous  qualities  as  from  their 
medicinal  properties.  People  ignorant  of  more  active  medicines,  will 
always  esteem  remedies  which  can  be  administered  with  safety,  if  not 
with  a  decidedly  salutary  eflfect. 

The  Gauls  are  represented  by  the  ancients  to  have  attained  very  old 
age,  enjoying  peculiarly  good  health  and  vigor.  The  Britons  were  par- 
ticularly remarkable  for  their  protracted  lives.  Plutarch  says,  some 
of  them  lived  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  and  the  inhabitants  of 

*  Aristotle. 

t  Pliny,  xxvi.  1,  4.  The  virtues  imputed  to  these  prescriptions  were  so  incredible, 
that,  at  last,  a  general  skepticism  arose,  which  paved  tlie  way  for  the  new  practice 
of  Asclepiades  ;  that,  in  its  turn,  became  equally  corrupted. — Ibid.  The  loss  of  that 
portion  of  Solomon's  wisdom,  contained  in  the  treatise  on  every  plant,  "  from  the 
cedar-tree,  that  is  in  Lebanon,  even  unto  the  hyssop,  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall  " 
.8  to  be  regretted  equally  by  the  physician  and  naturalist. 


MEDICAL  PROPERTIES  OF  VARIOUS  HERBS. 


353 


the  Hyperborean  Island  are  said  to  have  lived  until  they  were  satiated 
with  existence.  Their  mode  of  life  was,  doubtless,  conducive  to  strength 
and  longevity,  but  the  Celts  were  not  entirely  exempt  from  disease;  yet 
those  which  were  common  at  Rome,  were  little  known  in  Gaul  or  Spain.* 
The  glacach,  among  the  Highlanders,  is  a  disease  of  a  consumptive 
nature,  affecting  the  chest  and  lungs.  It  is  also  called  the  Mac  Don- 
ald's disease,  because  there  are  particular  tribes,  of  that  name,  who  are 
confidently  believed  to  be  able  to  cure  it  with  their  touch,  accompanied 
by  a  certain  form  of  words,  means  which  are  quite  ineffectual  if  any  fee 
is  offered  or  accepted!  From  the  simple  and  active  lives  of  these  people, 
they  were  subject  to  few  diseases;  and  it  is  only  since  linen  has  come  into 
general  use,  that  rheumatism  is  said  to  have  been  known.  In  the  large 
county  of  Sutherland,  only  one  doctor  can  find  sufficient  employment.| 

The  practice  of  physic  amongst  uncivilized  people  is  always  accom- 
panied by  religious  ceremonies,  which  have  been  assigned  as  the  origin 
of  all  magic  and  incantations.  The  Druids  were  physicians  as  well  as 
ministers  of  religion,  J  and,  in  certain  diseases,  their  interposition  with 
the  gods  was  added  to  their  physical  applications,  for  the  recovery  of 
their  patients.  Sometimes  it  was  thought  necessary  even  to  sacrifice  a 
human  victim  for  the  removal  of  some  desperate  malady.  As  these 
priests  were  the  chief  depositaries  of  Celtic  knowledge,  which  they  pre- 
served as  part  of  their  religious  profession,  it  is  probable  that  the  other 
classes  of  the  community  paid  less  attention  to  a  study  that  would  have 
infringed  on  the  peculiar  privilege  of  the  Druids;  but  this  species  of 
knowledge  being,  in  a  great  measure,  the  result  of  experience,  it  could 
not  remain  entirely  with  that  class,  although  the  office  of  administering 
bodily  relief  may  have  been  conceded  to  them  from  a  belief  in  their 
superior  sanctity  and  inffuence  with  the  Deity. 

In  the  Gaelic  poem  of  Oithona,  we  find  a  chief  who  had  been  a  diligent 
student  of  Esculapius:  ''Can  the  hand  of  Gaul  heal  thee  ?"  he  asks; 
"  I  have  searched  for  the  herbs  of  the  mountains,  I  have  gathered  them 
on  the  secret  banks  of  their  streams,  my  hand  has  closed  the  wound  of 
the  brave. Fingal  is  celebrated  for  his  cuach  fhinn,  or  medical  cup, 
which  is  yet  commemorated  in  Highland  tradition.  ||  Amongst  the  Cel- 
tic nations,  Pliny  celebrates  the  people  of  Spain  as  most  curious  in 
searching  after  simples;  and  some  herbs,  in  great  repute  for  their  medi- 
cinal virtues,  were  peculiar  to  that  country, IT  One  of  these  was  named 
aantabrica,  from  the  territories  of  the  Cantabri,  where  it  grew.  Vetton- 
ica,  or  betony,  was  not  indeed  peculiar  to  Celtiberia,  but  it  received  its 


*  Pliny,  xxvi.  1.  A  sort  of  cancerous  bubo  is  described  as  peculiar  to  Narbonne, 
which,  without  being  accompanied  by  pain,  carried  its  victim  to  the  grave  in  three 
days.    Ibid.  t  Agricultural  Report.  t  Bello  Gallico, 

§  This  is  not,  perhaps,  a  fair  proof  of  the  practice  of  surgery  and  medicine  indepen- 
dent of  the  Druids ;  for  tradition  asserts,  that  the  kings  of  Morven  had,  at  this  period, 
refused  longer  submission  to  that  body.  ||  Smith's  Gallic  Antiquities. 

II  Lib.  XXV.  8. 

45 


354 


MEDICAL  PROPERTIES 


name  from  the  Vettones,  one  of  the  tribes  of  that  country,  who  probably 
first  discovered  its  salutary  properties.* 

The  miseltoe  was  esteemed  a  panacea,  and  was  called  by  a  name 
which  signified  all-heal.  It  was  particularly  celebrated  for  the  cure  of 
epilepsy,  in  which  disease  it  is  even  yet  sometimes  applied.!  wonder- 
ful properties,  which  need  not  be  enumerated,  were  quite  lost  if  it  was 
allowed  to  touch  the  ground  after  being  cut  down. 

An  herb,  called  britannica,  supposed  to  have  been  cochlearia,  or 
spoon-wort,  was  celebrated  for  the  cure  of  paralysis.  The  name  seems 
to  point  to  this  country  as  its  original  soil;  but  although  it  was  exported 
to  the  continent  from  Britain,  Pliny  says  it  was  not  very  plentiful  in 
this  island,  and  confesses  he  does  .not  know  why  it  has  received  the 
name.  J  Its  properties  were  first  discovered  to  the  Romans  in  the  time 
of  Cossar  Germannicus,  when  the  army,  having  drank  the  waters  of 
a  certain  fountain  in  Germany,  lost  the  use  of  their  legs,  and  were 
otherwise  much  affected.  On  this  occasion,  the  natives,  who  were  well 
acquainted  with  the  deleterious  quality  of  the  water,  and  of  the  value 
of  this  herb  in  counteracting  its  effects,  instructed  the  Romans  in  its 
application. 

Agaricum,  a  production  resembling  a  mushroom,  grew  on  most  trees 
in  Gaul,  and  was  not  only  prescribed  as  a  medicine,  but  became  an  arti- 
cle of  export  to  Rome,  where  it  was  much  esteemed  as  an  ingredient  in 
confections. § 

Many  very  astonishing  virtues  were  imputed  to  verbenacum  or  ver- 
vain. It  was  not  applied  solely  to  heal  bodily  infirmities,  but  was 
famed  for  removing  mental  disorders,  having  the  power  effectually 
to  reconcile  those  who  were  at  the  deepest  enmity,  and  by  merely 
sprinkling  the  place  where  a  party  were  to  feast,  it  promoted  hilarity 
and  a  good  understanding  among  the  company.  These  were,  indeed, 
estimable  qualities,  especially  as  the  Gauls  are  represented  to  have 
been  extremely  irritable,  and  prone  to  quarrel  at  their  entertainments. 
This  plant  deserved  the  estimation  in  which  it  was  held,  for  it  was 
besides  of  much  use  in  divination,  and  was  gathered  with  the  most 
superstitious  observances.  Those  who  were  employed  in  the  work,  com- 
menced their  operations  by  drawing  a  circle  around  it,  and  slipping 
their  left  hand  cautiously  from  under  their  cloak,  as  if  afraid  of  being 
seen,  plucked  it  up  by  the  roots  and  threw  it  in  the  air.  They  finally 
made  an  oblation  of  honey  to  the  earth,  as  an  atonement  for  depriving  it 
of  so  valuable  an  herb.|| 

The  Romans  retained  the  ancient  and  almost  universal  veneration 
entertained  for  verbenacum,  imputing  to  it  several  wonderful  virtues. 
When  the  heralds  went  on  any  embassy,  they  carried  a  bunch  of  it, 
pulled  up  for  the  purpose,  from  which  circumstance  they  derived  their 

*  Pliny,  xiv.  • 
t  Sir  John  Colbach,  in  1720,  published  a  Dissertation  on  the  Miseltoe,  where  he 
recommends  it  as  a  medicine  excellent  to  subdue  epilepsy  and  all  other  convulsive  dis- 
orders, t  Lib.  XXV.  3,  xxvii.  §  Pliny,  xvi.  9.  1|  Pliny,  xxv.  9. 


OF  VARIOUS  HERBS 


356 


name,  Verbenarii.*  The  Greeks  employed  vervaine  in  the  worship  of 
their  gods,  and  the  Eastern  magi  paid  the  same  regard  to  it,  affirming 
that  it  possessed  many  miraculous  properties.  The  Druids,  in  their 
character  of  physicians,  practised  no  greater  deception  than  the  priests 
of  other  nations.  They  knew  that  this  herb  really  possessed  certain 
qualities,  which  the  wisdom  of  succeeding  ages  has  not  disputed,  (e.  g. 
for  headaches,  wounds,  &c.,)  and  if  they  disguised  this  knowledge  by 
superstitious  ceremonies,  and  pretended  miracles,  they  only  displayed 
what  the  credulous  populace,  who  delight  in  the  marvellous,  were  great- 
ly pleased  with,  and  thereby  taught  them  to  respect  and  venerate  what 
they  would  not  otherwise  have  valued  The  shepherds  in  the  North  of 
France  continue  to  gather  vervaine,  pronouncing  certain  words,  the 
meaning  of  which  is  unknown  perhaps  even  to  themselves,  and  apply  it, 
not  only  for  the  cure  of  several  complaints,  but  believe  that  it  can  ope- 
rate as  a  charm,  f 

The  Gauls  seem  to  have  believed  that  the  potency  of  herbs  were 
chiefly  imparted  by  the  mysterious  ceremonies  with  which  they  were 
gathered  and  applied,  an  opinion  that  the  Druids  would  naturally  encour- 
age. Those  nations  appear  to  have  imputed  to  certain  plants  very 
wonderful  and  powerful  virtues,  and  to  have  considered  them  as  able 
to  assist  them  in  battle.  Pliny,  although  sufficiently  credulous,  justly 
doubts  their  being  able  to  fortify  themselves  by  such  means.  "  Where 
were  those  potent  herbs  among  the  Cimbri,"  he  asks,  "  when  they  were 
so  completely  routed,  that  they  yelled  again ?"J  The  supernatural  pow- 
ers which  the  Gauls  ascribed  to  their  medical  applications  were  certainly 
ridiculous,  but  the  articles  which  formed  the  prescriptions,  if  not  effect- 
ual in  their  operation,  were  naturally  harmless.  In  general,  they  pos- 
sessed some  good  quality,  and,  compared  with  the  contemptible  nostrums 
in  credit  among  the  Romans,  they  were  respectable  applications. 

The  Gael  do  not  appear  to  have  been  much  tinctured  with  the  belief 
in  charms  that  prevailed  among  other  people.  Dr.  Mac  Culloch  found  no 

superstitious  remedies"  among  the  people  of  the  Isles,  and  amongst 
those  to  be  noticed,  few  will  appear  to  be  such  as  deserve  this  term.  In 
an  old  Gaelic  poem,  allusion  is  made  to  a  ring  used  as  a  preservative 
from  disease. — I  am  astonished,  from  the  virtue  of  his  ring,  how  he 
should  be  in  pain  or  torment."  Need  we  be  surprised,  that  "the 
savage  Celt,"  as  he  is  stigmatized,  should  have  believed  that  this  article 
possessed  wonderful  powers,  when  we  find  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  Lord 
Chancellor  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  giving  her  Majesty  a  ring  to  protect 
her  from  the  plague  !  §  The  well-attested  cure  of  Lady  Baird,  of  Sauch- 
tenhall,  near  Edinburgh,  by  the  Lee  penny,  is  on  a  par  with  the 
Chancellor's  gift.  This  valuable  penny  was  borrowed  by  the  town 
of  Newcastle,  to  protect  it  from  the  plague,  and  a  bond  was  granted  for 
its  safe- return.  II  In  the  Diary  of  El.  Ashmore,  1681,  we  find,  '*I'took 
a  good  dose  of  elixir,  and  hung  three  spiders  about  my  neck,  and  they 

"Pliny,  xxii.  2.  t  M.  Latourap.  Phillip's  Flora  Historica.       t  xxvi.  4,  1. 

(  Ellis's  Letters  on  English  Hist.  iii.        ||  Murray's  Guide  to  the  Beauties  of  Scotland 


556 


MEDICAL  PROPERTIES  OF  VARIOUS  HERBS. 


drove  my  ague  away  !"  I  believe  some  of  the  Highlanders  still  attach 
a  deal  of  importance  to  unspoken  water,  which  is  brought  from  certain 
parts,  and  applied  without  uttering  a  single  word.  The  veneration 
which  the  ancient  Celtoe  paid  to  water,  led  them  to  believe  in  the  super- 
natural virtues  of  particular  fountains  and  streams,  in  which  their 
descendants  continued  long  to  bathe,  in  the  faith  of  a  cure,  and  this 
respect  for  wells  was  not  relinquished  by  the  Christian  Scots  ! 

Selago,  or  hedge  hyssop,  was  reckoned  by  the  ancient  Celts  excellent 
for  all  diseases  of  the  eyes,  the  cure  being  produced  by  fumigation.  It 
was  gathered  with  singular  ceremonies,  of  the  same  character  as  those 
observed  in  collecting  other  herbs,  the  person  being  clad  in  a  white 
robe,  with  bare  feet,  &,c.* 

Samolus,  which  was  procured  with  similar  observances,  was  chiefly 
employed  as  a  preservative  of  cattle  from  every  disease,  but  all  its  virtues 
seemed  to  depend  on  the  due  performance  of 'the  formalities  with  which 
it  was  pulled.  Those  who  were  employed  in  this  office  were  enjoined  to 
do  it  fasting  ;  they  were  not  on  any  account  to  look  aside,  or  turn  their 
eyes  from  the  herb,  &c.| 

The  Celtic  nard  was  valued  at  Rome  as  only  inferior  in  quality  to  the 
Indian,  and  a  pound  of  it  was  sold  for  thirteen  denarii,  something  more 
than  eight  shillings  sterling.  It  was  much  used  by  physicians,  and  was 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  a  certain  wine,  greatly  esteemed  by  the 
Romans,  but  whether  the  composition  of  this  beverage  was  learned  from 
the  Gauls  does  not  appear. J  The  nard  was  plucked  up  by  the  roots, 
which  were  carefully  washed;  it  was  then  steeped  in  wine,  dried  in  the 
sun,  and  made  up  into  little  bundles  wrapped  in  paper,  for  sale.§ 

Exacon,  a  sort  of  centaury  found  in  Gaul,  was  esteemed  very  useful 
inseveraldistempers.il  The  virtue  of  ischsemon,  or  mylet,  in  stanching 
blood,  was  discovered  by  the  Thracians.  The  scithica,  which  received 
its  name  from  the  Scyths,  besides  its  use  among  that  people,  as  a  pre- 
ventive of  hunger  and  thirst,  was  applied  to  the  healing  of  wounds,  for 
which  it  was  much  esteemed  even  in  Rome.lT 

We  know  very  little  of  ancient  Celtic  pharmacy.  The  juices  of  herbs 
were  usually  extracted  by  bruising  or  boiling.  Sometimes  the  plants 
were  dried  in  the  shade,  *at  other  times  in  the  sun,  and  these  operations 
were  accompanied  with  many  superstitious  and  nice  observances.  The 
leaves,  the  roots,  and  the  stems  of  verbenacum,  were  each  carefully 
and  separately  dried  before  use  in  a  place  shaded  from  the  rays  of  the 
sun.**  The  Gauls  extracted  the  juice  of  hellebore,  a  poison  with  which 
they  rubbed  the  points  of  their  arrows,  and  which  had  the  property  of 
making  the  venison  sweet  and  tender. ||  Limeum,  called  also  belenium, 
was  another  poisonous  extract,  which,  besides  several  other  uses,  was 
administered  with  salutary  effect  in  a  draught  to  cattle. 


*  Pliny,  xxiv.  9. 
§  Ibid.  xii.  12. 
Ibid.  XXV.  9. 


t  Ibid.  xxiv.  9.  t  Ibid.  xvi. 

11  Ibid.  XXV.  6.  IF  Ibid.  xxvi.  14,  xxvii.  1. 

tt  Auhis  Gellius,  xvii.  15.  Pliny,  xxv. 


CELTIC  PHYSICIANS. 


357 


Xenicum,  also  a  poison,  killed  with  such  celerity,  that  it  was  necessa- 
ry for  the  hunter  when  he  had  struck  his  game,  to  run  up  quickly  and  cut 
the  flesh  from  around  the  wound,  to  prevent  the  matter  from  spreading. 
An  antidote  to  xenicum  was  oakbark,  or  a  leaf  which  they  called  coracion. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  the  Celtge  were  skilled  in  the  treatment  of 
wounds,  the  reduction  of  fractures,  &c.  The  state  of  almost  constant 
warfare  in  which  they  unhappily  lived,  afforded  but  too  much  practice 
to  the  surgeon.  Sir  Richard  Hoare,  in  a  barrow  which  he  opened, 
near  Stonehenge,  found  a  skeleton,  the  skull  of  which  had  a  piece, 
about  five  inches  broad,  so  neatly  cut  off,  that  he  thought  it  could 
only  have  been  done  by  means  of  a  saw.  Severe  wounds,  that  must 
have  been  long  healed,  are  often  perceptible  on  the  mouldering  remains 
of  the  Celtic  warrior. 

The  physician  was  hereditary,  like  other  professions,  and  one  was 
generally  found  in  the  retinue  of  a  chief,  where  he  held  a  situation  of 
some  distinction.  In  Ireland,  the  surgeon  and  the  priest  were  placed 
beside  each  other  at  table,  the  chief  perhaps  considering  the  person  who 
took  care  of  his  body  on  a  near  equality  with  him  who  attended  to  his 
spiritual  welfare,  or,  it  may  be  more  Hkely,  that  when  the  professions 
were  separated,  the  priest  was  assigned  the  place  which  the  Druid  had 
occupied. 

The  kings  of  Scotland,  from  the  most  early  period,  had  physicians  in 
their  establishment,  who  enjoyed  lands  as  the  reward  of  their  services. 
Amongst  the  Highlanders,  the  rights  of  the  physician  were  secured  by 
royal  grant.  In  1609,  King  James  granted  to  Fergus  Mac  Beth  the 
office  of  principal  physician  of  the  Isles,  with  the  lands  of  Ballenabe  and 
Tarbet.*  The  Scots  always  paid  great  veneration  to  the  profession,  but 
they  made  it  a  rule  to  abstain  from  physic  as  much  as  possible,  relying 
much  on  a  system  of  abstinence  for  effecting  a  cure.  A  mutilated  trea- 
tise on  physic,  and  another  on  anatomy,  were  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Smith; 
and  one  on  medicine,  written  in  the  end  of  the  thirteenth,  or  beginning 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  was  in  possession  of  the  late  Mr.  Astle.  The 
Dr.  says,  there  were  in  Mull,  until  lately,  a  succession  of  doctors,  who 
wrote  a  chest  full  of  Gaelic  MSS.,  on  subjects  connected  with  their 
profession,  which  were  purchased  by  the  Duke  of  Chandos. 

Their  prescriptions  were  from  necessity  chiefly  confined  to  simple  pre- 
parations of  herbs,  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  Isles  and  the  coasts 
of  the  mainland  added  certain  sea  weeds.  A  clergyman  in  the  North 
of  England  writes  to  Dr.  Fosbrooke,!  "  I  have  often  regretted  that  our 
village  herbalists  are  fallen  so  much  into  disrepute.  There  are  some 
plants  have  qualities  which  are  disallowed  or  neglected  by  botanists;  and 
these  qualities,  brought  into  action  by  an  old  crony,  will  sometimes  cure 
a  disease  that  has  been  given  up  by  her  betters  as  irremediable."  He 
instances  a  decoction  of  plantain  and  salad  oil,  successfully  applied  by 
*  Mac  Farlane's  MS.  Gilcolm  is  said  to  signify  "  son  of  the  physician." 
t  Traditions  and  Recollections. 


358 


CELTIC  RECIPES. 


these  rural  doctors  for  the  bite  of  an  adder,  8lc.  A  good  constitution  is 
more  in  favor  of  a  patient,  perhaps,  than  any  power  in  the  application, 
which,  if  it  does  not  positively  assist  recovery,  it  is  not  likely  to  check. 
The  herbei,  or  herbary,  was  a  spot  in  gardens,  anciently  devoted  to  the 
rearing  of  medicinal  plants. 

We  have  a  curious  account  of  one  of  the  self-taught  Highland  doctors 
in  the  work  of  Martin,  who  wrote  125  years  ago,  and  attests  the  cure  of 
a  gentlewoman  of  his  acquaintance,  who  was  believed  to  be  within  but  a 
few  hours  of  her  last,  by  this  person,  who  applied  only  a  simple  plant. 
Neil  Beaton  was  a  native  of  Sky,  and  his  renown  was  not  only  spread 
over  the  Islands,  but  extended  far  and  wide  throughout  the  Western 
parts  of  the  mainland.  He  extracted  the  juices  of  roots  and  plants  by 
a  process  peculiar  to  himself,  at  little  or  no  charge,  and  had  so  nice  a 
discernment,  that  he  could  discover  their  nature  by  the  color  of  the 
flower.  He  treated  medical  works  with  contempt,  frpm  observing  that 
their  methods  had  often  failed  when  his  had  succeeded.  Martin  says 
he  examined  him,  and,  with  great  simplicity,  declares  his  belief  that  he 
worked  by  no  supernatural  assistance,  but  formed  his  system  of  treat- 
ment chiefly  from  a  consideration  of  the  constitution  of  his  patient.* 
In  Ireland,  the  O'Calinanes  were  so  very  famous  for  their  skill,  that  it 
gave  rise  to  a  proverb.  In  that  country,  willow  herb,  lythrum  sali- 
caria,  is  a  celebrated  medical  plant. 

A  few  recipes  of  acknowledged  efficacy  will  impart  an  idea  of  the 
state  of  medical  science  among  these  people.  The  tops  of  nettles, 
chopped  small,  and  mixed  with  the  whites  of  eggs,  applied  to  the  fore- 
head; or  erica  baccifera,  boiled  for  a  little  in  water,  and  applied  warm 
to  the  crown  of  the  head,  procures  sleep.  Spirewort,  cut  very  small, 
and  applied  in  the  shell  of  the  limpet  to  the  temples,  removes  toothache. 
A  similar  application,  sufficiently  strong  to  raise  a  blister,  cures  sciatica 
and  other  complaints.  The  infusion  of  wild  garlic  is  drank  for  the 
stone.  Fern,  mixed  with  the  whites  of  eggs,  dispels  bloodshot  from 
the  eyes.  Wild  sage,  chewed,  and  put  into  the  ears  of  cows  or 
sheep,  certainly  restores  sight.  The  broth  of  a  lamb,  in  which  the  herb 
shunuish  has  been  boiled,  is  reckoned  good  for  consumption.  The  liver 
of  a  seal,  dried,  pulverized,  and  drank  with  milk  or  whisky,  is  a  good 
remedy  for  fluxes.  Linarich,  a  green  colored  sea  weed,  is  applied  to 
the  temples  and  forehead,  to  dry  up  defluxions,  and  for  the  cure  of  me- 
grim: it  is  also  applied  to  burns.  I  am  not  sure  if  the  following  practice 
was  peculiar  to  the  Highlanders.  At  the  birth  of  a  child,  the  nurse 
took  a  stick  of  green  ash,  and  putting  one  end  in  the  fire,  while  it  was 
burning,  she  received  in  a  spoon  the  juice  which  oozed  from  the  other 
end,  which  she  gave  to  the  infant  as  its  first  food."!"  In  the  Island  of 
Gigay,  nettles  were  used  to  stanch  bleeding,  but  the  most  esteemed 
article  for  this  purpose  is  the  bolgabeite,  a  round  sort  of  fungus,  that 


*  Western  Islands,  p.  198  Dr.  Mac  Culloch  says  dyspepsia  was  the  prevailing 
disease.  t  Lightfoot. 


LONGEVITY. 


359 


when  it  dies  becomes  full  of  a  light  powder,  of  a  brownish  color,  which, 
being  exposed  to  the  wind,  flies  off  like  smoke.  In  cases  of  fracture,  a 
poultice  of  barley  meal  and  white  of  eggs  must  be  immediately  applied; 
the  part  then  surrounded  by  small  splinters  of  wood,  tightly  wrapped  up, 
and  not  to  be  untied  for  several  days.  An  ointment  of  St.  John's  wort, 
bettonica,  and  golden  rod,  all  cut  and  mixed  in  butter  or  grease,  with 
which  they  cure  wounds  in  general,  is  then  applied,  and  in  this  manner 
they  treat  the  most  compound  fracture  with  tolerable  success.  When  the 
feet  were  benumbed,  the  West  Highlanders  used  to  scarify  their  heels. 
When  they  were  hot  and  galled  with  hard  walking,  they  were  bathed  in 
warm  water,  wherein  red  moss  had  been  put.  The  leaves  of  alder,  applied 
to  the  feet,  when  inflamed  by  travel,  was  a  prescription  in  other  parts. 

A  singular  but  e*ff*ectual  method  of  inducing  perspiration  was  anciently 
practised  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Hebudse.  A  large  fire  was  made  on 
the  earthen  floor,  and  when  it  was  properly  heated,  the  fire  was  removed, 
and  a  heap  of  straw  spread  over  the  place,  upon  which  was  poured  a 
quantity  of  water.  The  patient  then  lay  down  upon  it,  and  was  quickly 
in  a  profuse  sweat.  In  more  recent  times,  they  adopted  another  equally 
efficacious  means.  The  patient's  shirt  was  boiled,  and  put  on  wet,  and  as 
warm  as  could  be  borne.*  To  cure  jaundice,  the  patient  laid  bare  his 
back,  for  the  inspection  of  the  doctor,  who,  without  any  previous  intima- 
tion, gently,  but  quickly,  passed  a  hot  iron  along  the  vertebr[e.  Others 
suddenly  dashed  a  pail  of  cold  water  on  the  naked  body.  In  both  cases  the 
cure  was  produced,  or  attempted,  by  the  fright  which  the  patient  receives. 

Having  thus  described  the  manner  of  living  among  the  Highlanders, 
exhibiting  the  activity  and  freedom  of  their  lives,  and  showing  the  supply 
of  food  which  their  situation  affords,  with  the  means  which  they  adopt  to 
counteract  disease  or  accident,  the  inference  must  be,  that  these  people 
are  both  healthy  and  long  lived.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  case,  most  of 
them  attaining  extreme  old  age,  without  suffering  from  any  of  the  mala- 
dies which  are  the  scourges  of  the  luxurious  and  inactive. 

Martin,  himself  a  native  of  the  Hebrides,  whom  it  has  been  found 
necessary  so  often  to  quote,  in  his  very  curious  and  particular  account 
of  these  islands,  and  their  inhabitants,  mentions  several  instances  of  pro- 
tracted existence,  some  of  which  came  under  his  own  observation.  Gil- 
our  Mac  Grain,  an  inhabitant  of  Jurah,  he  says,  kept  180  Christmasses, 
in  his  own  house,  and  notices  a  women  in  Scarba,  who  reached  the 
patriarchal  age  of  140  years,  and  a  person  in  South  Uist,  who  had  but 
lately  died  at  138.  In  more  recent  times  we  find  Flora  Mac  Donald, 
who  died  in  Lewis  in  1810,  with  full  possession  of  her  faculties,  at  the 
age  of  120,  and  Margaret  Innes,  who  died  in  Sky  in  1814,  aged  127. 
In  1817,  Hugh  Cameron,  called  Eobhan  na  Pillie,  died  at  Lawers 
in  Braidalban,  in  his  1 12th  year  ;  and  one  Elizabeth  Murray  died  at 
Auchenfauld,  in  Perthshire,  when  she  had  reached  116.  Peter  Gairden, 
who  has  been  before  alluded  to,  a  native  of  Mar,  was  a  sturdy  old  High- 


*  Martin,  p.  189. 


360 


LONGEVITY. 


lander  when  he  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  132.  This  veteran,  whose 
portrait  has  been  engraved,  continued  to  wear  his  native  garb,  in  this 
and  other  particulars  resembling  Alexander  Campbell,  alias  Ibherach, 
who  lived  in  Glencalvie,  in  Ross-shire,  and  was  born  in  1699.  This 
"  ancient  of  days"  died  at  the  age  of  117,  retaining  his  vigor  of  body 
and  mind  to  the  last,  and  enjoying  his  favorite  amusement  of  roaming 
about  the  glens.  A  walk  of  eleven  miles  to  visit  his  clergyman  was  a 
recreation,  and  shortly  before  his  death  he  went  to  Tain,  a  distance  of 
twenty-six  miles  in  one  day.  He  trod  with  a  firm  step,  and  uniformly 
dressed  in  the  kilt  and  short  hose,  leaving  his  breast  and  neck  exposed 
to  the  blast,  however  cold.  Poor  Ibherach,  after  living  so  long,  was 
indebted  for  support  to  the  generosity  of  his  friends.  About  a  year 
before  his  death,  in  1816,  he  received  from  Lord  Ashburton  a  shilling 
for  every  year  of  his  life,  with  something  additional  for  whisky  to  mois- 
ten his  venerable  clay,  and  cheer  his  spirits  in  the  evening  of  life.  This 
sum  outlasted  Campbell,  and  helped  his  clansfolk  to  perform  the  last 
offices  with  becoming  decency  and  respect  to  the  hoary  veteran.  In 
August,  1827,  John  Mac  Donald,  a  native  of  glen  Tinisdale,  in  Sky, 
died  at  Edinburgh,  aged  107.  It  was  too  memorable  a  circumstance  to 
forget,  that  early  one  morning  he  supplied  two  females,  as  he  supposed, 
with  water  from  a  fountain,  which  individuals  were  Flora  Mac  Donald 
and  Prince  Charles  Stewart  in  disguise.  This  man  was  very  temperate 
and  regular,  and  never  had  an  hour's  illness  in  his  life.  On  new  year's 
day,  1825,  he  joined  in  a  reel  with  his  sons,  grandsons,  and  great-grand- 
sons. 

The  public  prints  have  for  many  years  past  occasionally  recorded 
the  deaths  of  Highlanders,  whose  remarkable  old  age  may  have  entitled 
them  to  notice,  but  who  obtained  a  place  in  the  obituary  chiefly  from 
the  circumstance  of  their  having  been  concerned  in  the  last  unfortunate 
struggle,  and  being  supposed  at  the  time  the  only  survivors  of  those 
engaged  in  that  affair.  Successive  communications  have  hitherto  proved 
the  supposition  erroneous,  and  afforded  a  proof  of  the  general  longevity 
of  the  Gael.  It  is  represented,  that  when  his  Majesty  was  in  Edinburgh, 
John  Grant,  aged  110,  was  presented  to  him  as  one  who  had  fought 
against  the  Royal  forces  in  1745,  when,  addressing  his  Sovereign,  he 
observed,  that  although  "  he  might  not  rank  among  the  oldest  friends  of 
his  throne,  he  was  entitled  to  say  that  he  was  the  last  of  his  enemies." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


OF  THE  SHIPPING,  COMMERCE,  MONEY,  AND  MANUFACTURES 
OF  THE  CELTS. 

It  has  been  said  that  no  art  is  so  primitive  as  navigation,  nations  in  the 
rudest  state  of  existence  being  found  to  possess  sufficient  ingenuity  to 
form  vessels  capable  of  bearing  them  on  the  surface  of  the  waters.  The 
Gauls,  in  the  most  distant  ages,  appear  to  have  had  ships  wherein  they 
transported  themselves  to  other  countries,  as  those  who,  escaping  after 
the  battle  of  Thermopylae,  passed  into  Asia.''^ 

A  canoe,  formed  by  hollowing  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  seems  the  first 
attempt  at  ship-building.  Hannibal,  in  passing  the  Rhone,  bought  all  the 
small  boats  of  the  natives,  a  great  number  being  there  at  the  time  attend- 
ing the  fairs  of  the  sea  ;  he  also,  as  Polybius  informs  us,  made  so 
many  vessels  of  hollow  logs  of  trees,  that  every  man  strove  to  cross  the 
river  by  one  for  himself.  Lord  Kames,  however,  thinks  that  beams  and 
planks  were  first  used  in  the  construction  of  vessels,  an  opinion  that  is 
scarcely  tenable. 

The  remains  of  log  canoes  have  been  discovered  under  ground  in  Scot 
land,  evincing  a  very  remote  but  unknown  antiquity.    In  the  Locher 
moss,  near  Kilblain,  one  was  found  that  measured  eight  feet  eight  inches 
in  length,  the  cavity  being  six  feet  seven  ;  the  breadth  was  two  feet,  and 


*  Pausanias,  i.  4. 

46 


362 


SHIPS. 


the  depth  eleven  inches  :  it  had  evidently  been  hollowed  by  fire,  and  at 
one  end  were  seen  the  remains  of  three  pegs  for  the  oars  or  paddles. 
In  the  same  moss,  in  1736,  another  was  found  which  measured  seven 
feet  in  length,  and  contained  a  paddle.  The  Welsh  Triads  celebrate 
Corfinawr,  a  bard,  as  the  first  who  made  a  ship  for  the  Cumri,  and  the 
account  which  Athenaeus  gives  of  the  mainmast  of  King  Hiero's  great 
ship  having  been  procured  from  the  mountains  of  Britain  is,  no  doubt, 
equally  true.* 

Coit,  an  obsolete  term  for  a  tree,  is  the  name  which  the  Highlanders 
apply  to  the  simple  vessel  formed  of  a  hollow  log.  It  was  also  called 
amar,  literally  a  trough,  both  appellations  being  in  use  by  the  Irish  and 
Scots.  When  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  wrote,  about  fifty  years  since,  a  few 
were  still  to  be  seen  in  some  of  the  Western  Isles.  We  are  told  by 
Pliny  that  the  German  rovers,  who  formed  their  boats  in  this  way,  made 
them  sometimes  sufficiently  large  to  carry  thirty  men.|  Long  is  also 
Gaelic  for  a  ship;  and  Pryce,  in  his  Cornish  British  Archaeology,  says 
it  is  the  British  log. 

This  first  essay  at  ship-carpentry  was  succeeded  by  a  frame  of  wicker, 
covered  with  hides,  a  sort  of  vessel  used  by  the  Iberians, J  Veneti,  &c. 
They  were  also  used  by  the  British  tribes  in  the  most  early  ages,  from 
whom  Caesar  learned  their  manner  of  construction,  and  by  this  means 
conveyed  his  army  across  the  river  Sicoris.  Lucan,  referring  to  this 
circumstance,  describes  them 

"  The  bending  willow  into  barks  they  twine, 

Then  line  the  work  with  spoils  of  slaughtered  kine: 
Such  are  the  floats  Venetian  fishers  know, 
Where  in  dull  marshes  stands  the  settling  Po  ; 
On  such  to  neighboring  Gaul,  allured  by  gain, 
The  bolder  Britons  cross  the  swelling  main."  § 

The  Saxons  also,  we  learn  from  Sidonius  Appollinaris,  crossed  to 
Britain  in  these  apparently  frail  barks,  in  which  our  ancestors  fear- 
lessly ventured  on  the  most  stormy  seas.  The  Britons  went  a  dis- 
tance of  six  days'  sail  in  them  to  Mictis,  when  pursuing  the  trade  in 
tin.  Saints  Dubslane,  Machecu,  and  Manslunum,  left  Ireland  in  one, 
and  after  having  been  seven  days  at  sea,  they  landed  in  Cornwall,  a  very 
fortunate  voyage,  considering  that  they  took  neither  oars  nor  sails  with 
them.  II  Saint  Cormac  also  made  a  voyage  from  Orkney  to  lona  in  a 
similar  vessel,  but  he  appears  to  have  had  less  faith  than  the  others,  for 
he  provided  himself  with  oars. IT  Wicker  boats  continued  in  use  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Wales  long  after  they  were  able  to 
construct  vessels  of  stronger  materials.  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  says  it  was 
not  above  thirty  years  since  such  a  boat  was  employed  in  the  Isle  of 
Sky.  In  some  parts  of  Ireland  they  are  still  to  be  found,  and  in  Wales 
they  are  more  common.    One  Robert  Leeth,  who  made  a  survey  of 

*  Campbell's  History  of  the  Admirals.         t  Lib.  xvi.  40.  t  Strabo.  Virgil 

§  Lib.  iv.  V.  130.  H  Marianus  Scotus.        ,  H  Adomuaix 


GURACHS. 


363 


Ireland  in  1572,  states,  in  his  expenses,  "  item  for  a  lethere  boat,  with 
three  men  and  a  gyde,  to  serche  the  said  greate  ryvere  of  Mayore."* 

The  GaeHc  name  for  this  boat  is  curach — in  Cumraeg,  it  is  called 
cwm,  and  corracle.  The  Spanish  euro,  applied  to  small  vessels  used 
on  rivers,  is  evidently  a  relic  of  the  primitive  language.  In  this  wide 
spread  tongue,  bare,  which  Pelletier  acknowledges  to  be  genuine  Cel- 
tic,! is  a  general  name  for  shipping,  and  is  to  be  found,  with  little  alter- 
ation, in  most  European  languages.  In  the  English,  Armoric,  French, 
German,  Swedish,  and  Danish,  the  sound  is  similar — the  Dutch  have 
boork,  and  the  Spanish  have  barca. 

The  curachs  must  have  been  strongly  built,  and  often  of  a  large  size: 
there  is  a  tradition  that  the  one  in  which  Columba  made  his  voyages  was 
forty-feet  in  length,  but  from  its  dimensions  preserved  in  an  earthern 
mound  at  lona,  it  appears  to  have  been  sixty-four  feet.  The  curach,  in 
which  the  above  three  holy  men  performed  their  voyage,  was  composed 
of  3|  ox  hides.  J  One  of  the  heroes  of  Morven,  in  Dr.  Smith's  Gallic 
Antiquities,  says,  "  my  father  wove  a  bare  of  the  branches  of  trees." 
It  is  well  known  that  the  British  tribes  excelled  in  the  formation  of  wick- 
er work.  The  modern  corracles  in  Carmarthenshire  are  only  five  feet 
and  a  half  long,  by  four  broad,  forming  an  oval  shape. §  The  hides  are 
pitched,  and  they  are  furnished  with  a  seat,  the  men  being  accustomed 
to  paddle  with  one  hand,  and  fish  with  the  other;  they  are  so  small  and 
slight,  that,  when  brought  ashore,  the  owners  carry  them  home  on  their 
backs. 

It  appears  from  Eumenius  and  Caesar,  that,  on  the  descent  of  the  lat- 
ter, the  South  Britons  had  not  one  vessel  of  war,||  their  shipping  con- 
sisting solely,  according  to  antiquaries,  of  the  small  skin  covered  boats, 
the  reason  of  which  appears  to  be  that  their  navy  was  lost  in  the  defeat 
of  the  Veneti,  to  whose  assistance  it  had  been  sent;  and  to  encourage 
the  subdued  tribes  to  improve  their  navy,  the  Romans  held  out  consider- 
able advantages.  Certain  rewards  were  offered  to  those  who  would  fit 
out  vessels  capable  of  containing  10,000  modii  of  corn.TF  Although  it 
is,  perhaps,  impossible  to  ascertain  when  the  Britons  acquired  the  art 
of  building  vessels  of  timber,  it  must  have  been  known  very  anciently. 
The  Caledonians  had  certainly  numerous  fleets  in  distant  ages,  and  it 
is  evident  that  they  were  not  all  curachs.  The  long  and  perilous  voya- 
ges which  they  made  to  Scandinavia  and  other  parts,  are  celebrated  in 
bardic  lore.  Their  skill  and  dexterity  in  working  their  vessels,  and  the 
intrepidity  with  which  they  encountered  the  storms  of  a  Northern  ocean, 
are  celebrated  in  a  description  so  striking,  that  it  is  to  be  regretted  the 
translator  of  Ossian  did  not  meet  with  the  poem.  Those  adventurous 
warriors,  like  the  Ligurians  described  by  Diodorus,  made  long  voya- 
ges in  their  skiffs,  daring  the  most  tempestuous  seas,  and  guiding  their 

*  MS.  in  Brit.  Mus.  t  Diet,  de  la  Langue  Bretonne.  t  Mathaeus  Westmon. 
§  Tour  in  Wales,  1775.  ||  Paneg.  ii.    Huet  du  Commeree. 

Tl  Cod.  Theod.  v.  1.  13.  Campbell,  in  his  Naval  History,  however,  says,  the  Romani 
confined  them  to  the  use  of  the  curach. 


364 


BIORLINS.— SHIPS  OF  THE  CALEDONIANS. 


course  by  the  reul;*  yet  some  of  their  vessels  must  have  been  stoutly 
built,  and  of  a  goodly  size.  The  Gaelic  biorlin,  the  term  for  a  ship  or 
boat,  is  said,  by  some  etymologists,  learned  in  that  language,  to  signify 
the  deep  or  still  water  log,  showing  its  original  application  to  a  rude 
float;  but  it  appears,  with  much  more  reason,  to  be  a  corruption  of  bar- 
lin,  the  top  of  the  waters,  and  in  some  parts  the  word  is  still  so  pronounced. 
We  know  less  of  the  form  of  these  ships,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  built,  than  of  those  used  by  some  nations  on  the  continent,  a  de- 
scription of  which  may  not  be  uninteresting  or  unconnected  with  the 
subject.  The  ships  of  the  Suiones  were  so  built,  that  either  end  became 
the  prow  as  circumstances  might  require,  and  they  were  consequently  im- 
pelled in  any  direction  without  the  trouble  of  being  put  about.  They  had 
no  sails,  and  the  oars  were  not  fixed,  but  the  rowers  plied  in  all  parts  of 
the  ship,  changing  their  position  from  place  to  place  as  they  were  led  to 
alter  their  course. t  The  Veneti,  we  learn  from  Caesar,  had  a  great  navy, 
and  excelled  in  nautical  science;  their  ships,  with  which  the  Roman 
fleet  had  an  engagement,  this  accomplished  writer  considered  superior 
to  his  own  galleys.  They  were  entirely  formed  of  oak,  very  strongly 
put  together,  their  bottoms  were  flat  for  the  purpose  of  clearing  shallows, 
and  the  prow  and  stern  were  high  to  resist  the  waves.  The  benches  of 
the  rowers  were  a  foot  in  width,  and  were  fixed  with  inch-thick  iron  bolts. 
The  cables  were  of  iron  chain,  and  the  sails  were  of  skins  and  of  soft 
leather. J  The  Gauls,  in  general,  however,  manufactured  canvass  for 
sails. §  Stones,  sand-bags,  Slc.  were  first  used  for  anchors;  they  were 
afterwards  made  of  wood,  and  the  invention  of  the  double  flue  is  ascrib- 
ed to  Anacharsis,  the  celebrated  Scyth.||  From  the  figures  on  ancient 
monuments  in  the  West  Isles,  and  a  sculpture  at  lona,  the  prow  and  stern 
of  the  Caledonian  ships  were  equally  high.  A  single  mast  placed  midship 
sustained  a  square  sail,  as  represented  in  the  vignette  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  chapter, IT  and  the  flag  was  borne  on  a  mast  fixed  at  the  prow. 
The  cordage  was  formed  of  thongs.  There  were  anciently  a  number 
of  galleys,  of  twenty  oars,  in  the  Hebrides,  the  service  for  many  lands 
being  to  provide  and  maintain  a  certain  number;  hence  the  longfad,  or 
lymphad,  in  the  arms  of  the  Campbells  and  others.  In  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, Somerled's  fleet  amounted  to  fifty-three  sail,  but  they  were  after- 
wards augmented  to  160,  which  enabled  him  to  shake  off*  the  Danish 
yoke,  and  contend  with  Malcolm  IV. 

Hailes  relates,  on  the  authority  of  Mathew  of  Westminster,  that,  in 
1249,  a  large  vessel  was  built  at  Inverness.  The  ship  that  was  discov- 
ered in  the  ancient  bed  of  the  river  Rother,  and  exhibited  in  London  some 
years  ago,  is  believed  to  have  been  one  of  those  used  by  the  Saxon 

*  Guiding  star,  from  ruith,  course,  and  iul,  star. 

t  Tac.  de  Mor.  Germ.  t  Bello  Gall.  iii.  8, 13. 

§  See  page  182.    Some  of  the  vessels  on  the  Po  had  sails  of  rushes. — PHny.  The 
Spaniards  made  cables  and  other  tackling  of  genista,  or  broom. — Ibid.  xix.  2. 
II  Beloe  on  Herod, 

^  The  distant  vessel  is  modern,  but  the  anachronism  will  be  pardoned. 


SHIPS  OF  THE  CALEDONIANS. 


366 


rovers.  This  singular  hulk  was  clinker-built,  long  and  narrow,  in  the 
form  of  a  barge  or  canal  boat,  and  was  caulked  with  £t  vegetable  substance 
said  to  be  moss.  We  find  that  the  people  of  Picardy  bruised  certain 
reeds,  with  which  they  filled  the  seams  of  their  vessels,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose it  had  no  equal.* 

In  a  manuscript  account  of  Dumfriesshire,  written  more  than  a  century 
ago,  is  an  account  of  a  ship,  or  part  of  one,  dug  up  at  Stranraer,  in  a 
place  to  which  the  tide  had  long  ceased  to  flow;  nay,  the  remains  lay 
under  a  spot  of  ground  that,  from  time  immemorial,  had  been  a  cabbage- 
garden.  In  this  instance,  the  planks  were  fastened  with  copper  nails, 
in  a  manner  very  different  from  that  in  use  now,  or  at  the  period  of  the 
discovery ."f  As  the  greater  part  of  this  vessel,  which  appears  to  have 
been  of  a  considerable  size,  remains  undisturbed,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
an  opportunity  may  hereafter  occur  of  making  more  accurate  observa- 
tions. 

As  there  was  an  incentive  to  battle  among  the  Highlanders,  there 
was  also  an  incentive  to  seamen,  or  stimulating  address  to  the  crews  of 
the  Biorlins.  J  One  of  these  curious  poems,  the  composition  of  Alexan- 
der Mac  Donald,  and  recited  to  animate  the  crew  of  the  Lord  of  Clan 
Ronald,  is  a  work  of  considerable  merit,  and  an  analysis  and  a  few  quota- 
tions, for  which  I  am  indebted  to  a  literary  friend,  whose  favors  I  have 
before  had  to  acknowledge,  will  show  its  character. 

It  commences  with  a  benediction  thus: — "  Now  the  ship  of  Clan  Ron- 
ald is  launched,  I  fervently  implore  God's  blessing  upon  her,  on  the 
chief,  and  on  his  crew;  a  crew  unmatched  in  bravery  and  courage:  And, 
O  God !  render  thou  the  breath  of  the  sky  propitious,  that  it  may  urge  us 
over  the  waters  uninjured  to  a  safe  haven.  Almighty  Father,  who  hast, 
by  thy  word,  called  forth  from  nought  the  ocean  and  the  winds,  bless 
our  lank  bark,  and  our  stout  heroes  all,  and  take  them  under  thy  pro- 
tecting power.  Do  thou,  O  Son!  bless  our  anchor,  our  sails,  our 
shrouds,  and  our  helm,  our  tackling,  yard,  blocks,  and  mast,  and  be  our 
pilot  o'er  the  waves! '  Our  stays  and  haulyards  keep  sound.  Preserve 
us  from  all  dangers  free.  Let  the  Holy  Ghost  be  around  us,  who  knows 
every  harbor  under  the  sun.    We  submit  ourselves  to  his  protection." 

The  benediction  on  their  arms  then  follows: — "May  God  bless  our 
swords — our  keen,  blue,  Spanish  blades,  our  heavy  coats  of  mail,  proof 
against  the  soft  edge  of  an  ill-tempered  weapon,  our  cuirasses  and  bossy 
shields.  Bless  all  our  armour,  offensive  and  defensive;  the  bows  of  bright 
and  polished  yew,  that  we  bravely  bend  in  the  strife ;  our  birchin  arrows, 
that  will  not  splinter,  and  the  badger's  rough  spoil  that  contains  them; 
and  whatever  other  warlike  stores  are  now  on  board  of  Mac  Donald's 
bark."§  

*  Pliny,  xvi.  36.  t  Trans,  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  1828,  p.  52. 

X  Called  Prosnachadh  fairge. 

§  The  Gaelic  liturgy,  composed  by  John  Kerswell,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Argyle, 
1566,  contains  the  form  of  blessing  a  ship  when  going  to  sea.  The  steersman  says, 
"  Let  us  bless  our  ship,"  the  crew  responding  "  God,  the  Father,  bless  her  '"  Repeating 


366 


PROSNACHADH  FAIRGE. 


Addressing  the  crew,  the  bard  says: — "  Be  not  deterred  by  womanish 
softness  from  acting  like  the  hardy  and  the  bold.  As  long  as  the  sides 
of  our  biorlin  are  unrent,  as  long  as  four  boards  of  her  keep  together,  as 
long  as  she  can  swim  under  your  feet,  be  not  appalled  by  the  angry 
ocean.  The  pride  of  the  sea  will  submit  to  the  brave.  If  thy  foe  on 
land  finds  thy  courage  increase  with  thy  danger,  he  will  the  more  readily 
yield.  'T is  even  so  with  the  great  deep;  its  fury  will  yield  to  the 
efforts  of  the  fearless  and  the  bold." 

Address  to  the  Rowers,  or  the  Prosnachadh  Uimrai: — "That  you 
may  urge  on  the  long,  dark,  brown  vessel,  man  the  tough,  long,  polish- 
ed oars;  keep  time,  strike  quick,  and  deeply  wound  the  heaving  billows, 
and  make  the  surges  fly  like  sparkling  showers  of  living  flame.  Send 
her,  swift  as  an  eagle,  o'er  the  deep  vales  and  mountains  of  the  sea. 
O,  stretch,  bend,  and  pull  the  straight  sons  of  the  forest!  And  see  how 
the  stout  conquerors  of  the  ocean  bend  their  muscular  forms  like  one 
man!  Behold  their  hairy,  sinewy  arms!  See  how  they  twist  their  oars 
in  the  bosom  of  the  deep!  Now  the  pilot's  song  inspires  them  with  fresh 
vigor — see  how  they  urge  the  swift  courser  of  the  ocean,  snorting  o'er 
the  fluid  plain.  Lo!  how  her  prow  cuts  the  roaring  waves!  Her  strong 
sides  creak  amidst  the  dark  heaving  deep,  while  the  sons  of  the  forest, 
wielded  by  the  strong  arms  of  the  crew,  impel  her  against  the  storm. 
These  are  the  fearless,  unwearied,  unbending  rowers,  whose  oars  can 
shut  the  very  throat  of  the  whirpool."* 

As  soon  as  the  sixteen  rowers  were  seated  at  their  oars,  and  ready 
to  row  the  vessel  into  the  fair  wind,  Galium  Garbh,  Mac  Ronald  of 
the  ocean,  the  fore  oar's-man,  sung  the  loram,  which  consists  of  fifteen 
stanzas. 

Having  got  into  the  fair  wind,  they  hoist  their  sails,  and  Clan  Ronald 
orders  his  officers  to  appoint  every  man  to  his  station,  the  bard  address- 
ing each  separately  respecting  his  particular  duty,  in  which  great  nautical 
knowledge  is  displayed.  The  steersman  is  first  addressed;  next  the 
man  who  manages  the  main  sheet,  then  he  at  the  jib  sheet,  then  the  pilot, 
then  a  person  who  is  called  Fear  Calpa  na  Tairne,  then  the  describer 
of  the  waters,  or  the  man  on  the  outlook,  and  next  the  thrower  out  of 
the  water.  There  were  also  two  who  assisted  in  a  storm  or  when  need- 
ful, and  four  who  were  in  reserve,  lest  any  of  the  others  should  be 
disabled,  or,  as  the  bard  expresses  it,  "lest  the  sea  in  its  fury  should 
pull  any  of  them  overboard." 

Every  thing  being  now  prepared,  and  every  man  at  his  post,  they  set 
sail  at  sunrise  from  Lochainart,  in  South  Uist,  on  St.  Bridget's  day,  and 

his  request  they  rejoin,  "  Jesus  Christ  bless  her  !"  and,  to  the  same  observation,  the 
third  time,  "  The  Holy  Ghost  bless  her  !"  The  steersman  then  asks  them  what  they 
fear,  if  God,  the  Father,  be  with  them,  &c.;  to  which  they  reply,  "  We  do  not  fear  any 
thing."  They  did  not,  however,  altogether  rely  on  the  assistance  of  the  Trinity,  for 
they  were  careful  to  suspend  a  he-goat  from  the  mast  to  insure  a  favorable  wind. 

*  Probably  alluding  to  the  Coire  bhreacain,  a  remarkable  whirpool  between  the  Isles 
of  Jurah  and  Scarba. 


SHIP  BUILDING.— ORIGIN  OF  MONEY. 


367 


the  voyage,  which  proved  rough,  is  described  in  the  most  picturesque 
and  poetic  strains.  They  had  scarcely  "  stretched  the  well-shaped  yards 
to  the  tall  masts  of  sound  red  pine,  and  fastened  the  sails  and  rigging 
through  loops  of  iron,"  than  a  storm  arose,  and  "  the  awful  world  of 
waters  drew  on  its  rough  mantle  of  thick  darkness,  swelling  into  moun 
tains,  and  sinking  into  glens;  the  dreadful  monsters  of  the  deep  express 
their  terror  by  their  terrible  bellowing  and  roaring.  By  the  agitation  of 
the  waters,  and  by  the  blows  of  our  sharp  prow,  their  brains  are  scatter- 
ed on  every  wave — the  sea  is  red  with  the  gore  of  its  inhabitants,  and 
our  ship  is  damaged  by  coming  in  contact  with  the  monsters  of  the 
ocean.  'T  was  deafening  and  maddening  to  listen  to  the  roaring  of  the 
monsters,  and  the  awful  voice  of  the  demons  of  the  deep."  As  night 
approached,  the  storm  increased,  accompanied  by  thunder  and  lightning, 
*'  until  the  ocean  beheld  our  invincible  spirit  with  admiration,  and  hush- 
ed his  fury  into  peace.  But  there  was  not  a  mast  unbent,  yard  unsnap- 
ped,  or  sail  unrent.  Half  her  planks  were  sprung,  and  all  her  carcass 
was  loosened,  and  groaned  with  distress.  It  was  at  the  cross  of  the 
Strait  of  Isla,  that  the  ocean  made  peace  with  us,  and  dismissed  this 
host  of  winds  to  the  upper  regions  of  the  air,  leaving  the  waters  smooth 
as  a  polished  mirror.  We  returned  thanks  to  the  King  of  kings  for 
having  delivered  the  good  Clan  Ronald  from  the  fearful  death  that  had 
threatened  him.  We  then  laid  her  mast  along  the  deck,  and  stretched 
out  on  each  side  the  smooth  polished  oars,  made  from  the  good  red  pine, 
cut  by  Mac  Varas,  in  the  Isle  of  Funen.  We  rowed  with  strong  arms, 
as  if  one  man  moved  all  the  oars,  until  we  came  to  port  near  Carrie  Fer- 
gus. We  cast  anchor,  took  food,  and  the  cup  went  unsparingly  round, 
before  we  laid  ourselves  down  for  rest." 

The  art  of  ship  building  was  brought  to  great  perfection  in  Scotland, 
and  this  subject  may  be  concluded  with  an  account  of  a  ship  of  a  re- 
markably large  size,  built  by  King  James  IV.,  which  consumed  so  much 
timber,  that  she  is  said  to  have  wasted  the  woods  of  Fife.  This  vessel 
was  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  thirty-six  feet  wide  within  the 
sides,  which  are  said  to  have  been  no  less  than  ten  feet  thick!  "  This 
great  ship  cumbered  Scotland  to  get  her  to  sea."  She  was  provided 
with  300  mariners,  120  artillerymen,  and  1,000  men  of  war,  and  cost 
f  30,000.  "  If  any  man,"  says  Pitscottie,  "  believe  that  this  description 
be  not  of  verity,  let  him  pass  to  the  gate  of  Tillibardine,  and  there  afore 
the  same,  ye  will  see  the  length  and  breadth  of  her,  planted  with  haw- 
thorn by  the  wright  who  helped  to  make  her."* 

Before  the  precious  metals  are  adopted  as  the  medium  of  exchange, 
commercial  transactions  are  simply  the  barter  of  different  commodities. 
Cattle  is  the  property  which  most  uncivilized  people  possess,  and  which 
they  can  part  with  to  others,  and  it  consequently  becomes  a  standard  of 
value  among  primitive  nations.  The  armor  of  Diomede,  Homer  tells  us, 
cost  only  nine  oxen,  while  that  of  Glaucus  cost  a  hundred.    From  this 


*  Chronicles,  p.  108,  fol.  ed. 


368 


COIN  OF  THE  BRITONS. 


commodity,  which  regulated  the  traffic  and  indicated  the  weahh  of  the 
Celts  until  a  late  period,  is  derived  the  name  which  the  Romans  gave  to 
their  coined  money.  Pecunia  is  deduced  by  Varro  from  pecus,  a  flock, 
pointing  to  the  time  when  domestic  animals  were  the  only  means  by 
which  all  other  necessaries  were  procured.  The  inconvenience  of  this 
sort  of  traffic  becoming  much  felt  on  the  advance  of  civilisation,  it  natu- 
rally led  to  the  adoption  of  precious  metal,  as  a  more  convenient  article 
to  exchange  for  whatever  might  be  wanted.  Gold,  silver,  brass,  and 
iron,  are  therefore  adopted  as  money,  and  are  bought  and  sold  in  a 
state  of  roughness,  by  weight.  The  system  of  trading  by  the  exchange 
of  commodities  may,  however,  continue  long  among  a  rude  people.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  Silures,  or  rather  Cassiterides,  we  are  told,  adhered 
to  their  old  customs,  and  refused  to  buy  or  sell  for  money,  continuing 
the  primitive  method  of  exchange.  It  was  for  the  convenience  of  this 
trade  of  barter  that  fairs  were  anciently  instituted.  In  Ireland  thej 
were  denominated  aonachs,  and  one  was  held  near  Wexford,  much  cel- 
ebrated by  the  native  historians,  who  assert  its  existence  in  an  era  of 
improbable  antiquity.  In  that  country,  and  in  Scotland,  the  want  of 
coined  money  long  rendered  an  exchange  of  goods  the  only  means  of 
supplying  reciprocal  wants. 

Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  Germans,  says,  silver  and  gold  the  gods 
had  denied  them,  whether  in  mercy  or  wrath  he  could  not  venture- to 
say.  They  formerly  disregarded  these  metals,  although  they  had  silver 
vessels,  but  when  he  wrote,  the  Romans  having  made  them  acquainted 
with  its  use  and  value,  they  had  learned  to  receive  money.  Tacitus 
informs  us,  that  those  on  the  frontiers  of  Germany  placed  most  value  on 
coins  that  bore  the  impress  of  a  chariot  with  two  horses. 

"  In  Britain,  I  hear,"  says  Cicero,  writing  to  Trebatius,  "  is  neither 
gold  nor  silver."  Iron  appears  to  have  been  so  scarce  and  valuable, 
that  it  was  adopted  for  money,  and  passed  by  weight.  With  this  and 
copper,  the  subdued  tribes  paid  the  imposts  which  the  Romans  exacted.* 
The  iron  money  of  the  Britons  was  in  the  form  of  rings,!  but  the  de- 
scription has  not  enabled  antiquaries  to  agree  concerning  their  precise 
shape  and  size.  In  Oudendorp's  edition  of  Caesar's  works, J  it  is  sup- 
posed that  they  resembled  the  money  of  the  Chinese,  who  perforate 
their  coin  for  the  convenience  of  carrying  them  on  a  string,  as  here 
represented ; 

but  quantities,  amounting  to  some  horse  loads  of  iron  pieces,  of  the  other 
form,  have  been  found  in  Cornwall,  that  very  probably  once  passed  for 
coin.§  In  a  barrow  that  was  opened  in  the  parish  of  Kirk-patrick-flem- 
ing,  in  Dumfriesshire,  a  stone  chest  was  discovered,  which  contained  an 


*  Huet,  Hist,  du  Commerce,  p.  204.  t  Caesar.  Herodian. 

t  Vol.  i.  p.  224,  ed.  1737.  §  Lhuyd,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Tomkins 


COINS. 


369 


urn  and  several  iron  rings,  about  the  size  of  a  half-crown,  and  much  cor- 
roded. Those  singular  articles,  called  Kimmeridge  coal  money,  are 
believed  to  have  been  used  in  place  of  coin.  It  is  not  improbable  but 
their  appearance  would  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  rather 
employed  in  some  game,  the  indentations  with  which  they  are  marked 
varying  in  number.  At  all  events  they  are  not  perforated  like  the  ring 
money.* 

The  rudest  of  the  Britons  soon  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  value  of 
more  precious  metals  than  iron.  In  198  we  find  Lupus  purchasing 
peace  of  the  Meatie,  by  paying  them  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  long 
before  this  time  it  would  appear,  coins  and  medals,  composed  of  tin  and 
lead,  rudely  formed,  were  current  among  the  Southern  tribes.  The 
coins  of  the  Britons  bear  the  impression  of  the  heads  of  their  princes, 
with  various  figures  on  the  reverse,  either  symbolical,  or  representing 
articles,  the  uses  of  which  are  now  unknown;  but  the  figure  of  a  horse, 
the  mystical  symbol  of  Ceredwen  or  Ceres,  as  here  shown,  is  frequently 
introduced. 


The  British  coins  usually  present  the  inscription  Tascio,  concerning 
which  there  has  been  so  much  conjecture.  It  has,  with  much  appearance 
of  reason,  been  said  to  be  the  native  appellation  of  the  nobles,  being  the 
same  as  the  Gaelic  toshich,  which  signifies  chief,  and  hence  it  meant  no 
more  than  the  Rex  of  modern  coin.  It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that 
tasgaidh,  in  Gaelic,  is  the  treasury,  and  taisg,  is  to  hoard  or  treasure 
up;  hence  Dr.  Pettingal  thinks  it  signified  the  tascia,  the  tax  or  tribute 
paid  to  the  Romans,  who,  on  their  establishment,  prohibited  the  native 
princes  from  coining.  In  this  opinion  he  seems  borne  out  by  others, 
who  trace  tax  from  task,  and  that  from  tasgia;  but  Pegged  believes  it  is 
the  name  of  the  Mint-master,  who  was  a  Gaul. 

It  is  observable  that  "not  any  coin  bearing  the  head  of  a  Welsh 
prince,  or  which  can  in  any  respect  be  supposed  to  have  issued  from  the 
mint  of  a  prince  of  that  country,  is  known  to  be  extant.";];  Ceiniog,  or 
denarios,  is  the  only  coin  that  has  a  name  in  Welsh. §  The  Gaelic  boun 
is  applied  to  coin,  and  signifies  any  thing  round,  and  of  a  portable  size, 
whence  probably  the  English  bun.  The  Caledonians  had  no  coins 
for  nearly  1000  years  after  C36sar.||    The  Irish  appear  to  have  long 

*  The  opening  of  the  Deveril  Barrow  by  Mr.  Miles,  contains  some  observations  on 
these  articles.  t  On  the  coins  of  Cunobeline. 

t  Introduction  to  the  Beauties  of  England  and  Wales,  p.  313. 
§  Robarts'  Early  History  of  the  Cumri.  \\  Dr.  Mac  Pherson. 

47 


370 


COMMERCE.— RICHES  OF  THE  CELTS. 


remained  destitute  of  money.  Campion  says  there  was  no  coin  in 
any  great  lord's  house.  The  ancient  money  of  Man  was  formed  of 
leather. 

Of  the  commerce  of  the  Celts,  and  of  the  state  of  the  arts,  both  ne- 
cessary and  ornamental,  it  is  proper  in  this  place  to  take  notice.  The 
spirit  of  enterprise  which  this  people  displayed,  when,  after  their 
subjugation  to  the  Romans,  their  manners  became  altered,  and  their 
mercantile  advantages  were  discovered,  was  no  less  remarkable  tlian 
their  warlike  propensities.  Caesar  bears  testimony  to  the  industry  of 
the  Gauls,  their  ingenuity  and  success  in  imitating  any  thing  manu- 
factured by  others,  and  Diodorus,  who  praises  the  diligence  of  the  wo- 
men in  their  household  matters  and  attention  to  their  personal  appearance, 
extols  the  acute  understanding  and  aptitude  to  learn,  so  conspicuous 
in  the  race.  They  supplied  their  conquerors  with  various  articles,  which 
were  found  both  useful  and  ornamental  in  the  refined  society  of  Italy; 
and  the  Romans,  who  never  hesitated  to  copy  the  barbarians  in  any 
thing  really  worthy  of  imitation,  derived  from  the  Gauls  the  knowledge 
of  many  useful  inventions.  The  policy  of  the  Romans,  however,  ap- 
pears from  Tacitus  to  have  restricted  the  advantages  of  commerce  to 
the  Hermandures,  and  the  stern  Nervians  prohibited  the  pursuit  alto- 
gether, from  an  apprehension  that  it  was  subversive  of  their  pristine 
valor  and  hardihood,  and  inimical  to  their  independence. 

The  Celts  were  reputed  very  affluent,*  and  their  riches  consisted  of 
gold  and  cattle,  articles  easily  moved  about. |  There  were  no  silver, 
but  nimierous  gold  mines  in  Gaul,  and  this  precious  metal  was  often 
found  without  the  labor  of  mining,  being  washed  down  by  the  rivers. 
It  was  so  plentiful,  that  both  sexes  covered  themselves  with  ornaments 
of  it — rings  on  their  fingers,  bracelets  on  their  arms  and  wrists,  massy 
chains,  pure  and  beaten,  about  their  necks,  and  heavy  croslets  upon 
their  breasts. J  The  better  sort  were  accustomed  to  scatter  great  quan- 
tities of  gold  in  their  temples  and  sacred  places,  on  which  no  one  ever 
laid  a  sacrilegious  hand,  except  the  Romans,  to  whom  it  is  said  the 
riches  of  these  fanes  offered  the  great  temptation  for  hostilities.  When 
Claudius  Caesar  rode  triumph  for  the  conquest  of  Britain,  he  had  with 
him  a  crown  of  gold  weighing  nine  pounds,  presented  by  Gallia  comata.§ 
Spain  paid  annually  20,000  pounds  of  gold,  and  one  mine  yielded  of 
silver  100,000  pounds  yearly.  || 

The  above  enumeration  of  ornaments  shows  that  the  Celts  not  only 
possessed  the  precious  metals  in  abundance,  but  were  excellent  artifi- 
cers. The  gold,  whether  procured  from  the  rivers  or  by  mining,  in 
which  the  Aquitani  were  particularly  skilful, IT  was  melted  in  a  furnace, 
and  subjected  to  the  process  of  refining,  and  the  articles  fabricated  were 
finished  with  great  care  and  ingenuity. 

*  Tacitus'  Annals,  iv.  Agrippa  asks  the  Jews  if  they  were  "  richer  than  the  Gauls." 
t  Polybius,  ii.  t  Diodorus.  §  Pliny?  xxxiii.  3. 

11  Gibbon,  i.  c.  7.  IT  Bello  Gall.  iii.  22. 


BRITISH  EXPORTS.— TIN. 


371 


The  prevailing  use  of  brass  in  the  formation  of  weapons  of  war  has 
been  noticed.  This  metal  is  sooner  discovered  and  easier  wrought  than 
iron,  and  in  ancient  times  it  was  more  valuable  than  gold.  It  was  a 
favorite  metal  with  the  Celts,  and  was  held  in  particular  esteem  by  the 
Pythagoreans,  a  sect  whose  doctrines  were  analogous  to  those  of  the 
Druids.  The  ancients  appear  to  have  been  in  possession  of  a  method 
of  indurating  brass  by  a  process  now  unknown,  their  alloy  being  found 
different  from  that  which  is  at  present  used.  Aristotle  assigns  to  Lydus, 
the  Scyth,  the  invention  of  the  art  of  melting  and  tempering  brass.* 
The  Britons  imported  this  metal,  and  in  smelting  it  they  used  a  consid- 
erable quantity  of  lead.  In  Ireland  some  weapons  were  found  formed 
of  brass,  containmg  a  proportion  of  gold.  Copper,  in  its  pure  state,  was 
also  a  metal  in  much  esteem  by  the  Celts,  and  was  particularly  abund- 
ant in  Aquitain. 

Lead  was  procured  with  difficulty  from  the  mines  of  Gaul  and  Iberia, 
but  was  easily  found  in  Britain,  where  it  was  indeed  so  abundant,  that 
there  was  an  express  law  among  the  natives,  prohibiting  more  than  a 
certain  quantity  from  being  dug  up. 

Britain,  says  Strabo  and  others,  produces  corn,  cattle,  gold,  silver, 
and  iron;  besides  which  were  exported  wicker  work,  copper,  tin,  lime, 
pearls,  skins,  slaves,  and  dogs,  excelling  all  others,  and  much  used  by 
the  Gauls  in  war.  The  Romans,  we  are  told,  laid  no  heavy  duties  on 
British  exports  or  imports.  In  Strabo 's  time  they  made  more  of  the 
customs,  small  as  they  were,  than  they  could  raise  by  the  exaction  of 
tribute. 

Tin  is  the  metal  for  the  production  of  which  ancient  Britain  is  most 
celebrated.  It  is  erroneously  supposed  that  no  other  country  then  pro- 
duced this  metal,  an  opinion  which  in  the  second  Chapter  of  this  work 
has  been  proved  untenable.  It  is  remarkable  that  Polybius,  speaking 
of  the  Spanish  tin,  and  alluding  to  Britain  in  the  same  sentence,  says 
nothing  of  this  metal,  for  which  it  is  said  to  have  acquired  so  muck 
celebrity.  The  Britons,  according  to  Diodorus,  dug  the  tin  in  the  pro- 
montory of  Balerium,  or  Cornwall,  and  melted  and  refined  it  with  much 
care  and  labor.  They  beat  it  into  square  pieces,  like  a  die,  and  carried 
it  in  carts  to  an  island  called  Ictis,  which  was  only  insulated  at  high 
water;  whence  the  merchants,  by  whom  it  was  bought,  transported  it  to 
Gaul  in  boats  covered  with  skins,  and  carried  it  on  horses'  backs  to  the 
Rhone,  a  distance  of  thirty  days'  journey. 

The  Briton,  like  his  continental  ancestor,  was  no  doubt  long  unac- 
quainted with  the  art  of  working  metals,  the  knowledge  of  which  is 
forced  on  barbarians  by  the  necessity  of  fabricating  arms  for  their  pro- 
tection, but  it  may  be  presumed  that  instruments  of  stone  continued  in 
occasional  use  among  the  Celts  after  the  discovery  of  so  useful  an  art  as 
forging  brass  or  iron,  and  until  these  materials  became  sufficiently  plen- 
tiful to  admit  of  general  adoption.    Arms  of  brass  or  copper  were  more 


*  Pliny,  vii.  56. 


372 


MANUFACTURE  OF  IRON. 


easily  formed  than  those  of  iron,  of  which  besides  the  Britons  had  but 
little.  The  uses  of  this  metal,  and  the  art  of  rendering  it  malleable,  are 
not  easily  discovered,  and  it  is  believed  that  it  was  only  a  short  time 
previous  to  the  first  arrival  of  the  Romans  that  mines  of  iron  ore  had 
been  opened  and  imperfectly  worked,  on  a  very  limited  scale. 

That  the  ancient  Caledonians  were  acquainted  with  the  manufacture 
of  iron  appears  from  the  testimony  of  historians.  "The  hundred  ham- 
mers of  the  furnace"  are  alluded  to  in  a  Bardic  composition,  and  a  sim- 
ile is  drawn  from  the  art — "  fire  pours  from  contending  arms  as  a  stream 
of  metal  from  the  furnace."*  The  uniform  tradition  is,  that  the  Gael 
anciently  made  their  own  iron,  in  corroboration  of  which,  heaps  of  iron 
dross  are  found  in  many  places  among  the  mountains,  that  are  confidently 
believed  to  be  the  remains  of  their  founderies.y  Thereis  still  to  be 
seen  in  Glenturret  a  shieling,  called  Renna  Cardich,  the  smith's  dwel- 
ling, with  the  ruins  of  several  houses,  and  heaps  of  ashes,  with  other 
indications  of  an  iron  manufactory.  Old  poems  mention  it  as  a  work 
where  the  metal,  of  which  swords  and  other  arms  were  made  some  miles 
lower  in  the  valley,  was  prepared. J  In  Sutherland  also  are  distinct 
marks  of  the  smelting  and  working  of  iron  with  fires  of  wood.^  Peats 
were  the  usual  fuel,  and  they  are  yet  in  general  use.  The  smith's  fire 
is  made  of  turf,  first  half  burned,  and  then  soaked  in  water,  by  which 
process  it  is  hardened  and  made  sufficiently  solid  to  stand  the  heat  to 
which  it  is  subjected.  In  muirs,  deep  narrow  pits  are  frequently  to  be 
seen,  where  it  is  said  the  peats  were  thus  prepared,  but  the  practice  at 
present  is  to  dig  holes  three  or  four  feet  deep,  in  the  form  of  a  bowl  or 
basin,  which  are  filled  with  peats  that  are  set  fire  to,  and  extinguished 
when  sufficiently  charred,  by  being  covered  with  turf  Charred  peat  is 
still  used  in  Germany,  and  it  answers  all  the  purposes  of  smelting,  weld- 
ing, &c.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Macqueen,  of  Kilmuir,  describes,  from  tradi- 
tional record,  the  famed  Luno,  the  son  of  Leven,  who  made  the  swords 
of  Fingal  and  his  heroes,  as  a  wild  savage,  going  on  one  leg,  with  a 
staff  in  his  hand,  notwithstanding  which  he  was  remarkably  fleet,  and 
clad  in  a  mantle  of  black  hide,  with  an  apron  of  similar  materials.  Tie 
was  no  inapt  personification  of  Vulcan.  Ccesar  represents  the  Gauls 
as  perfectly  skilled  in  the  manufacture  of  iron, ||  but  the  Celtiberi  must 
be  allowed  to  carry  the  palm  in  this  art.  Their  method  of  purifying  and 
tempering  the  iron  was  by  burying  it  under  ground  until  the  weaker  and 
less  useful  part  was  consumed  by  rust,  when  the  remainder  was  found 
much  improved  both  in  strength  and  solidity.  Of  this  they  made  their 
weapons,  and  their  swords  were  celebrated  even  among  the  Romans, 
for  they  cut  so  keenly,  that  neither  shield,  helmet,  nor  bone  could  with- 
stand them.  The  worth  of  Spanish  blades  has  been  acknowledged  in 
later  ages,  and  they  were  always  preferred  by  the  Highlanders.  The 


*  Report  on  the  Poems  of  Ossian,  Appendix,  p.  245. 
t  Agric.  Report  of  Argyle,  &c. 
^  Sir  Robert  Gordon,  &c. 


t  Newte's  Tour. 
II  Lib.  vii.  21. 


WORKING  IN  METAL. 


373 


plates  and  chains  of  iron  with  which  the  Caledonians  and  Picts  ornament- 
ed themselves,  satisfactorily  prove  their  knowledge  of  the  manufacture. 

In  ]719,  a  bushel  of  those  implements  called  ceUs,  each  inclosed  in  a 
mould,  were  found  at  Brough,  on  the  Humber;  and  at  Skirlaugh  a 
large  quantity  of  celts,  spear  heads,  blades,  Stc.  was  found,  along  with 
several  cubes  of  the  same  metal,  and  some  masses  evidently  fitting  into 
the  neck  of  the  moulds  in  which  the  celts  were  cast.  The  whole  was 
wrapped  in  coarse  strong  linen,  and  inclosed  in  a  case  of  wood.*  On 
Easterly  moor,  twelve  miles  northwest  of  York,  in  1735,  there  were 
found  one  hundred  celts  of  copper,  with  some  pieces  of  rough  metal  and 
much  cinders.  The  colony  celebrated  in  Irish  history  under  the  name 
of  Danans,  carried  from  Britain  a  large  brass  vessel,  or  caldron. f 

It  would  appear,  from  some  ancient  poems,  that  the  Highlanders  had 
metal  mirrors. J  The  reader  who  is  curious,  has  been  referred  to  works 
containing  plates  and  descriptions  of  the  remarkable  variety  of  ornaments 
in  use  among  the  British  tribes.  The  discoveries  in  Ireland  are  often 
so  singular,  that  an  antiquary  is  at  a  loss  to  determine  the  era  to  which 
they  belong.  Articles  of  solid  gold  and  silver,  and  of  elegant  and  unique 
workmanship,  are  so  often  found,  as  to  incline  us  to  doubt  the  truth  of 
those  accounts  which  represent  the  people  as  formerly  in  a  state  of 
barbarity.  Among  other  things  crowns  of  gold  are  not  unusual!  These 
relics  are  often  dug  from  considerable  depths,  and  it  seems  impossible 
either  to  account  for  their  numbers,  or  for  their  deposition  in  such  places. 
The  distractions  with  which  that  unhappy  island  has  ever  been  disturb- 
ed, may  have  induced  the  petty  kings  and  nobles  in  their  adversity  to 
bury  their  diadems  and  other  valuables,^  but  still  we  are  surprised  at  the 
existence  of  so  many. 

The  Irish  regal  crown  was  called  asion  from  assian,  plates,  it  being 
composed  of  folds  or  ribs.  At  the  Tain  bo,  an  event  that  occurred  eight 
years  before  Christ,  Maud,  the  queen  of  Connaught,  rode  in  an  open 
chariot,  four  others  being  at  a  distance  to  keep  off  the  crowd,  and  pre- 
vent the  dust  from  staining  her  golden  asion.  ||  It  was  by  his  diadem  of 
gold,  according  to  Marianus  Scotus,  that  Brian  Boroimh  was  discover- 
ed after  the  battle  of  Clontarf. 

Some  of  the  articles  which  formed  the  exports  of  the  ancient  Britons 
have  been  noticed  in  a  preceding  page.  Insignificant  as  their  commerce 
may  have  been,  they  nevertheless  carried  on  a  regular  trade  with  the 
continent,  and  the  produce  of  the  interior  was  conveyed  in  cars  along 
the  tractvvays  that  extended  throughout  the  island.  The  fourteenth 
Triad  commemorates  Beli  as  a  constructor  of  roads  from  the  southern 
shores  even  to  the  extremity  of  Caithness,  at  the  same  time  affording 

*  Poulson's  Beverlac,  p.  5.  t  Trans,  of  Plighland  Society,  i.  334. 

J  Keating.    O'Conner.  Nen.  Brit. 

§  Sir  Henry  RadclifF  writes,  in  157G,  that  on  a  report  that  all  pewter  and  brass  ves' 
sels  were  to  be  taken  from  the  Irish,  they  immediately  buried  and  concealed  Ihem. 
11  Harris,  ed.  of  Ware. 


374 


EXPORTATION  OF  SKINS.— ART  OF  TINNING. 


protection  to  those  found  on  them.*  The  Watling  street,  running  from 
Chester  to  Dover,  appears  to  have  been  called  by  the  Britons,  Gwydd 
elin  sarn,  the  road  of  the  Irish. "f  The  trade  of  slaves  seems  to  have 
been  common  in  Britain;  but  who  the  miserable  beings  disposed  of  were, 
does  not  clearly  appear,  for  slavery  was  unknown  among  the  Celts. 
Some  Gauls  are  indeed  said  to  have  been  so  fond  of  Roman  wine,  that 
they  bartered  children  for  it,  and  the  Germans  sold  buffoons  as  slaves,  J 
but  the  bondmen  must  have  been  those  captured  in  war.  The  Irish  re- 
sorted to  Bristol  for  the  purchase  of  slaves. 

The  exportation  of  skins  was  a  branch  of  commerce  in  both  islands 
from  the  most  remote  times,  and  it  is  believed  that  Scotland  was  long 
unable  to  part  with  any  thing  else.  From  the  abundance  of  game  great 
quantities  were  formerly  disposed  of;  and  in  Ireland,  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  we  find  the  revenue  was  chiefly  derived  from 
hides. § 

In  the  fabrication  of  many  of  the  articles  described,  other  implements 
must  have  been  employed.  Those  formed  of  stone  could  only  have 
been  moulded  into  shape  by  patient  exertion,  but  other  means  must  have 
been  employed  to  bring  the  metal  weapons  to  an  edge.  The  Celts  must 
have  possessed  whetstones,  not  only  to  sharpen  their  swords,  daggers, 
spears,  scythes,  &c.  but  the  razors  with  which  they  shaved  the  lower 
part  of  their  face.  The  Romans  had  long  made  use,  for  this  purpose, 
of  stones  procured  from  the  island  of  Crete  and  other  places  which 
could  not  be  used  without  oil;  but  about  the  period  of  their  first  visit  to 
Britain,  they  discovered  that  the  Gauls  used  a  sort  which  they  called 
passernices,  that  they  were  much  superior  to  the  others,  could  be  used 
with  water,  and  were  to  be  procured  in  Italy.  The  hones  used  by  the 
Roman  barbers  were  procured  in  Hispania  citeriore,  and  required  only 
to  be  moistened  with  spittle.  ||  British  whetstones  three  inches  and  up- 
wards in  length,  some  much  worn  and  others  apparently  unused,  have 
been  found  in  various  places.  They  are  often  discovered  in  barrows, 
and  are  sometimes  accompanied  by  those  implements,  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  which  they  were  necessary. 

The  Gauls,  who  were  noted  for  always  having  plenty  of  pots  and  pans 
for  dressing  their  meat,  invented  the  art  of  tinning  these  utensils  and  all 
others  formed  of  brass  and  appropriated  for  domestic  purposes;  and  the 
Bituriges,  or  people  of  Bourges,  were  most  celebrated  for  this  work, 
which  was  commonly  called  incoctilia.lT  It  is  probable  that  they  cover- 
ed other  articles  with  tin  as  an  ornament.  The  Romans,  who  repaid 
nations  for  the  loss  of  liberty  by  the  encouragement  which  their  luxury 
and  voluptuousness  gave  to  the  exertion  of  the  manufacturer  and  artisan, 
could  not  fail  to  estimate  the  value  of  covering  their  copper  and  brazen 
■utensils  with  a  substance  so  innocuous,  nor  overlook  the  beauty  which 


*  Robert's  Early  Hist,  of  the  Cumri. 
J  Amm.  Mar.  xxix. 
11  Pliny,  xxxvi.  22. 


t  Hoveden,  p.  432. 

§  State  of  Ireland,  1673. 

H  Ibid,  xxxiv.  17. 


FURNITURE  AND  UTENSILS.— HIGHLAND  BEDS.  376 


could,  by  such  a  process,  be  imparted  in  many  different  ways.  The 
Gauls,  on  their  part,  were  not  insensible  to  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  a  prosecution  of  the  art,  and  began  about  half  a  century  after  Christ, 
to  silver  and  gild  over  the  harness  of  horses,  and  particularly  to  decorate 
all  kinds  of  chariots  in  this  way.  The  people  of  Alise,  a  town  of  the 
Mundubii,  in  Burgundy  were  the  most  celebrated  artificers  in  this  line, 
and  the  Roman  extravagance  led  them,  in  a  very  short  time,  to  distribute 
their  ornaments  in  the  most  lavish  expenditure. 

It  is  curious  to  find  that  the  Gauls  were  the  inventors  of  soap.  Their 
solicitude  to  preserve  the  yellow  color  of  their  hair,  or  to  deepen  its 
tone,  led  to  the  invention  of  an  article  used  in  washing  their  bodies,  com- 
posed "ex  sevo  et  cinere."  This  was  much  used  in  Germany,  chiefly 
by  the  men;  it  was  either  solid  or  liquid,  and  the  best  was  made  of  the 
ashes  of  beech  wood  and  goats'  suet.* 

The  utensils  and  furniture  of  the  Celtic  dwellings  were  suited  to  the 
wants  of  the  hardy  inmates,  but  these  articles  were  not,  however,  by 
any  means  so  inartificial  as  might  be  supposed.  Polybius  does  not  lead 
us  to  think  very  highly  of  the  acquirements  of  .the  Gallic  nations  who 
lived  m  Italy,  when  he  says  they  dwelt  in  villages  without  mclosure, 
and  had  no  furniture,  but  lay  on  the  ground,  living  also  on  flesh,  and 
making  no  profession  but  those  of  war  and  tillage,  their  wealth  consist- 
ing of  gold  and  cattle.  That  the  Celts  did  not  sleep  on  the  ground,  but 
on  beds  of  grass  or  straw,  he  elsewhere  informs  us,  and  also  says  they 
slept  on  mattrasses.l  In  this  he  is  borne  out  by  other  authors,  who  af- 
firm that  they  were  the  inventors  of  flock  beds,  a  manufacture  which 
they  taught  the  Romans.  They  were  usually  made  from  the  refuse  of 
the  wool  after  dying;  a  superior  sort  was  formed  of  the  Cadurcian  flax, 
but  all  the  different  kinds  retained  their  original  Celtic  names. J 

The  Britons  spread  the  skins  which  they  wore  during  the  day,  under 
them  at  night,  and  this  practice  of  sleeping  on  skins  continued  uatil  very 
lately  among  the  common  people  of  Germany. §  The  Celtiberians  made 
their  mattrasses  of  the  herb  genista,  a  sort  of  broom,  peculiar  to  that 
country. 

The  Highland  practice  of  sleeping  on  heath  nicely  put  together  on 
the  ground,  with  the  green  tops  uppermost,  was  reckoned  very  condu- 
cive to  health.  Reposing  on  a  bed  of  this  sort,  "  restored  the  strength 
of  the  sinews  troubled  before,  and  that  so  evidently,  that  they  who  at 
evening  go  to  rest  sore  and  weary,  rise  in  the  morning  whole  and  able." 
The  Gael,  to  whom  it  was  matter  of  indifference  whether  they  reposed 
on  the  heath  as  it  grew  on  the  hill,  or  stretched  on  it  when  prepared  in 
their  cottage,  were  so  strongly  prejudiced  against  any  thing  tending  to 
effeminacy,  that,  according  to  the  chronicle  from  which  the  preceding 
quotation  is  made,  "  if  they  travelled  to  any  other  country  they  rejected 
the  feather  beds  and  bedding  of  their  host,  wrapping  themselves  in  their 
own  plaids,  and  so  taking  their  rest,  careful  indeed  lest  that  barbarous 

*  Pliny,  xxviii.  12.  t  Lib.  xi.  J  Pliny,  xix.  i.  §  Cluverius. 


376 


BRITISH  ARTIFICERS. 


delicacy  of  the  mainland,  as  they  term  it,  should  corrupt  their  natural 
and  country  hardness."  The  heather  bed  was  certainly  well  adapted 
for  the  camp,  both  from  the  expedition  with  which  it  could  be  prepared, 
and  the  excellence  of  the  materials.  Sir  John  Dalrymple  remarks,  that 
this  mode  of  preparing  their  beds,  was  an  art  which,  as  the  beds  were 
both  soft  and  dry,  preserved  their  health  in  the  field  when  other  soldiers 
lost  theirs."*  The  Highlanders  naturally  viewed  the  introduction  of 
luxury  and  refinement  as  calculated  to  sap  their  independence,  and  they 
were  not  long  in  observing  that  the  members  of  the  Freiceadan  dubh, 
or  black  watch,  became  less  hardy  than  their  other  countrymen.  What- 
ever may  be  said  as  to  the  ultimate  advantage  of  civilizing  the  Highland- 
ers, it  must  be  allowed  that  the  old  chiefs  acted  wisely  in  discouraging 
the  premature  introduction  of  conveniences  and  improvements,  the  want 
of  which  was  not  felt,  and  the  adoption  of  which  could  only  be  partial. 
The  inconsiderate  countenance  of  innovation  could  only  produce  dis- 
comfort and  dissatisfaction  throughout  the  Highlands.  "  The  happiness 
of  Highlanders,"  says  Sacheveral,  the  historian  of  Man,  "  consists  not 
in  having  much,  but  in  coveting  little."  Simplicity  of  life  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  vassals,  but  extended  to  the  houses  and  tables  of  the  great- 
est chiefs,  who  equalled  their  retainers  in  manly  qualifications  and  har- 
diness of  frame.  O'Neal,  who  vaunted  that  he  would  rather  be  O'Neal 
of  Ulster  than  Philip  of  Spain,  sat  on  a  green  bank  under  a  bush  in  his 
greatest  majesty. "f 

Adverting  to  the  ancient  Celts,  Pausanias  bears  a  reluctant  testimo- 
ny to  their  ingenuity,  and  the  avowal  of  a  Greek  can  be  easily  appreci- 
ated. Brennus,  says  he,  was  not  unskilled  in  the  art  of  war,  but,  for  a 
barbarian,  sufficiently  acute,  and  he  tells  us  that  his  troops  constructed 
bridges  over  the  rivers,  compelling  the  nearest  inhabitants  to  rebuild 
them,  when  they  were  destroyed  by  the  Greeks. J  The  Gauls  appear  to 
have  made  greater  progress  in  civilisation  than  the  Germans,  who  longer 
retained  their  stern  and  unyielding  dispositions,  Tacitus  dwells  with 
pleasure  on  the  docility  and  capacity  of  the  Britons,  who  so  cheerfully 
received  the  instructions  and  followed  the  precepts  of  his  father-in-law, 
who  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  them  superior  in  intellectual  ability  to 
the  continental  Celts.  The  Briton  Avas,  no  doubt,  at  one  time  in  a  state 
of  cheerless  barbarism,  ignorant  of  the  arts  of  the  first  necessity;  but 
his  natural  ingenuity  enabled  him  rapidly  to  attain  a  state  of  comparative 
civilisation  and  comfort,  not  only  providing  for  his  own  wants,  but  ex- 
porting his  surplus  productions  to  other  nations.  Their  abilities  recom- 
mended them  to  the  Emperor  Constantius,  who,  in  296,  carried  a  great 
number  of  British  artificers  to  the  continent,  where  they  were  employed 
to  adorn  his  favorite  city  Autun,^ 

The  art  of  the  potter  must  be  known  to  a  people  occupied  in  pastur- 
ige,  who  require  vessels  to  contain  the  milk  of  their  flocks;  but  al- 


*  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain,  pt.  ii.  p.  53. 
t  Lib.  X.  c.  20. 


f  Riche,  p.  9. 

§  Eumenius  Paneg.  viii. 


EARTHENWARE.— AMBER.— PEARLS. 


377 


though  the  ancient  Britons  were  not  unacquainted  with  the  manufacture, 
but  certainly  made  urns  and  other  vessels  of  forms  not  inelegant,  and 
ornamented  sometimes  with  considerable  taste,  they  appear  to  have 
been  unable  to  supply  themselves  without  other  assistance;  earthen- 
ware being  one  of  the  commodities  they  received  in  their  barter  with 
others.  Perhaps  those  vessels  imported  were  superior  to  the  native 
workmanship — the  sepulchres  disclose  many  varieties  of  urns  and  other 
vases.  Adomnan  says  the  Picts  used  vessels  of  glass  for  drinking,  and 
it  is  recorded  of  St.  Patrick  that  he  used  a  chalice  of  this  material.  We 
also  find  that  Rederch,  king  of  Strathclyde,  possessed  gold,  precious 
stones,  &c.  and  a  cup  made  by  Guielandus,  of  the  town  of  Sigenius. 
Turgot  says  of  Queen  Margaret  that  she  caused  the  king,  Malcolm,  in 
1093,  to  be  served  in  dishes  silvered  and  gilt.  The  ingeniously-formed 
and  prettily-ornamented  wooden  and  horn  vessels  of  the  Gael  have  been 
noticed  in  a  preceding  page. 

Saguntum,  in  Spain,  was  famous  for  the  manufacture  of  earthenware 
cups,*  but  Gauls,  Lusitanians,  and  Celtiberians  were  accustomed  to 
use  vessels  of  wax.|  The  Celts  sometimes  used  cups  made  of  the  skulls 
of  their  enemies,  and  ornamented  with  gold.]]]  The  Scyths  were  also 
accustomed  to  use  these  cups,  and  among  the  Isedones  it  was  the  skulls 
of  their  relations  that  were  so  appropriated.  The  old  Irish  are  accused 
of  a  similar  practice,  but  there  may  be  a  misapprehension  of  the  term, 
for  skull  was  formerly  applied  to  a  drinking  cup,^  It  seems  originally 
to  have  signified  any  capacious  vessel,  and  is,  in  the  present  day,  appli- 
ed by  the  fishermen  in  the  north  to  a  sort  of  basket.  The  Thracians 
used  wooden  platters  and  cups  of  the  same  materials,  and  also  of  horn, 
according  to  the  manner  of  the  Getes.||  In  Gaul  there  were  a  sort  of 
vases  for  travellers  to  carry  their  wine,  made  of  yew  tree,  which,  in  Pli- 
ny's time,  had  lost  their  repute  from  the  poisonous  nature  of  the  wood, 
by  which  some  had  lost  their  lives. IT 

The  Britons  had  some  vessels  of  amber,  and  it  was  believed  by  the 
ancients  that  it  distilled  from  the  trees  in  Great  Britain.**  This  curious 
substance,  which  was  called  glessum,!!  was  gathered  in  the  territories 
of  the  Suevi,  who  were  the  only  people  who  dealt  in  it,  and  who  carried 
on  a  considerable  trade  in  it,  taking  it  by  the  way  of  Pannonia  to  Rome. 
The  women  in  the  villages  around  the  Po  wore  collars  of  it,  as  a  pre- 
ventive of  the  goitre. Lapis  specularis  was  originally  found  in  Cel- 
tiberia,  and  formed  an  article  of  export  to  Rome.^^  It  appears  to  have 
been  the  glass  of  the  ancients,  and  different  from  Mica.|||l 

The  British  pearls  were  anciently  very  famous.    The  hope  of  obtain- 

*  Pliny,  XXXV.  12.  t  Strabo,  p.  107.  ^  Silius,  xiii.  v.  482.  Livy. 

§  Jamieson's  Scots'  Etymol.  Dictionary.  ||  Diod.  Fragmenta,  xxi.  §  4. 

IT  Lib.  xvi.  c.  10.  **  Sotacus,  in  Pliny,  xxxvii.  ij. 

tt  Pliny,  xxxvii,  3.  The  Scyths  called  it  sacrium,  as  one  would  say,  ecouleineiit 
Ju  pays  des  saces." — Note  on  ditto,  xii.  202.  ed.  1783.  ++  Pliny  ut  sup. 

§§  Ibid,  xxxvi.  22.  Note  on  Pliny,  xii.  p.  76,  ed.  1782. 

48 


378 


ARTICLES  OF  ORNAMENT 


ing  a  rich  booty  of  them  is  said  to  have  been  a  chief  motive  for  the  Ro 
man  invasion,  and  when  Coesar  returned  to  Rome,  he  dedicated  a  mili- 
tary ornament,  embelUshed  with  British  pearls,  to  Venus.  Tacitus  and 
Marcellinus,  however,  do  not  speak  highly  of  their  value.  Pearls  are 
found  in  many  rivers  in  Scotland,  but  they  are  said  to  be  more  rare  than 
formerly.  In  1120,  Nicholas,  an  English  ecclesiastic  writing  to  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  begs  a  number  of  pearls,  particularly  four  large 
ones,  and  if  the  Bishop  had  them  not,  he  requests  him  to  procure  them 
from  the  king,  who  had,  he  knew,  an  abundant  store.*  Sir  Thomas 
Menzies,  of  Cults,  procured  a  famous  pearl  in  the  water  of  Kellie,  in 
Aberdeenshire,  which,  having  been  informed  was  of  great  value,  he 
went  to  London  and  presented  it  to  the  king,  who  rewarded  him  with 
twelve  chaldrons  of  grain  and  the  customs  of  Aberdeen  for  life.f 

The  Gauls  formed  precious  stones  into  ornaments  for  their  persons, 
and  even  sometimes  employed  them  for  hatchets  and  other  implements. 
They  were  soon  taught  by  their  conquerors  the  value  of  such  articles, 
and  when  they  discovered  how  advantageously  they  could  dispose  of 
such  articles,  they  established  a  prosperous  trade,  and  began  to  impose 
on  their  credulous  customers  many  articles  of  little  value  as  wonderful 
productions.];  The  old  Highlanders  set  precious  stones  in  their  rings,§ 
and,  in  treating  of  their  costume,  many  of  their  other  ornaments  have 
been  noticed.  The  most  ingenious  and  beautiful  article  that  has,  per- 
haps, ever  been  discovered  in  these  islands,  is  that  supposed  to  have 
been  the  handle  of  a  dagger,  richly  embellished  with  innumerable  mi- 
nute gold  pins,  described  and  engraved  in  Sir  Richard  Hoare's  splendid 
work  on  ancient  Wiltshire. 

That  the  Celts,  and  particularly  the  Britons,  were  able  to  construct 
very  ingenious  works  in  carpentry,  is  evinced  by  their  chariots  and 
agricultural  implements.  On  some  of  the  coins  of  Cunobeline,  struck 
between  the  first  and  second  Roman  invasion,  seats  or  chairs,  with 
backs,  four  feet,  8tc.,  are  distinctly  represented.  The  Irish  are  said  to 
have  been  anciently  much  celebrated  for  their  skill  in  working  of  wood, 
great  quantities  of  which  they  exported. 

The  Celtic  artisans  were  hereditary,  like  all  other  professions.  Much 
has  been  said  in  favor  of  and  against  this  system;  if  it  is  calculated 
to  prevent  improvement,  which  is  not  apparent,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Celtic  civilisation  was  long  stationary,  and  there  was  no  stimulus' 
to  invention.  An  Englishman  was  astonished  to  find  that  every  employ- 
ment passed  by  descent,  not  excepting  the  Rhimer.  "  Every  profes- 
sion," says  Riche  of  the  Irish,  "hath  his  particular  decorum — their 
virtue  is,  they  will  do  nothing  but  what  their  fathers  have  done  before 
them."    The  case  was  the  same  with  the  Scotish  Gael. 

*  Hailes's  Annals,  i.  58. 

t  Survey  of  the  city  of  Aberdeen,  1085.  This  pearl  was  reported  to  have  been  placed 
in  the  crown.  t  Phiiyj  xxxvii.  11 

§  D.  Smith,  in  Trans.  High.  Soc.  i.  340. 


HIGHLANDS  ADAPTED  FOR  MANUFACTURES.     '  379 


The  Britons  were  particularly  ingenious  in  the  manufacture  of  osier 
utensils,  or  basket  work,  which  they  executed  so  neatly,  that  it  became 
an  article  in  much  demand  at  Rome,  to  which  large  quantities  were  ex- 
ported. In  a  Gaulish  monument,  discovered  at  Blois,  in  1710,  a  female 
figure  is  seated  in  a  chair  of  wicker  or  straw  plaited,*  with  a  high  back, 
similar  to  those  I  have  seen  for  sale  in  Dublin. 

The  Highlanders  are  naturally  ingenious,  and  of  a  mechanical  turn 
of  mind.  It  has  been  stated  that  they  make  their  own  agricultural  and 
other  implements;  they  also  carry  their  simple  but  useful  manufactures 
to  fairs  for  sale,  by  which  they  are  able  to  procure  those  articles  which 
their  own  country  does  not  produce.  Besides  the  exportation  of  cattle 
and  wool,  with  much  kelp,  the  manufacture  of  which  is  a  late  introduc- 
tion, hames  of  hair,  and  sometimes  of  twisted  thongs  of  raw  hides,  brak- 
ings, and  collars  for  horses  and  oxen,  made  of  straw,  waights,  caises, 
sumacs  or  fleats.  Sec;  sacks  formed  of  skin,  tartan  cloth,  kersey,  blank- 
ets, carpets,  and  woollen  yarn,  and  the  produce  of  their  dairy,  are  all 
disposed  of,  and  carried  occasionally  in  some  quantities  out  of  the  coun- 
try. The  short  wood  in  the  glens  is  worked  into  various  useful  articles, 
and  disposed  of  in  the  Low  country.  In  the  month  of  August  there  is  a 
timber  market  held  in  Aberdeen  for  several  days,  which  is  of  ancient 
origin,  and  to  which  the  Highlanders  bring  ladders,  harrows,  tubs,  pails, 
and  many  other  articles;  those  who  have  nothing  else,  bringing  rods  of 
hazje  and  other  young  wood,  with  sackfuls  of  aitnach  or  juniper  and 
other  mountain  berries.  There  is  a  market  somewhat  similar  in  Edin- 
burgh. It  seems  with  reference  to  this,  that  a  proclamation,  11th  of 
Augustj  1564,  commands  that  in  Aberdeen,  Banff,  Elgin,  Inverness, 
Forres,  and  Nairn,  "  nane  sell  timber  but  in  open  market." 

The  wooden  locks  of  the  Highlanders  are  so  ingeniously  contrived  by 
notches,  made  at  unequal  distances,  that  it  is  impossible  to  open  them 
but  with  the  wooden  key  that  belongs  to  them. 

In  a  former  chapter,  when  treating  of  costume,  the  abilities  of  the 
Highland  dyers  and  weavers  were  noticed  with  some  attention,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  excellent  coloring  substances  produced  in  the  country  were 
enumerated.  It  is  matter  of  much  regret  that  the  adaptation  of  the 
Highlands  for  the  establishment  and  successful  pursuit  of  manufactures 
is  so  unaccountably  overlooked,  for  it  is  evident  that  they  could  be  car- 
ried on  to  much  national  advantage.  The  Scotish  mountains  afford  an 
abundant  supply  of  various  articles,  capable  of  imparting  the  most  beau- 
tiful dyes,  and  which  can  be  procured  without  trouble,  and  at  the  least 
possible  expense.  A  command  of  water  for  any  machinery  is  in  most 
places  at  all  times  to  be  found,  and  the  cheapness  of  living  would  keep 
wages  very  low.  It  is  surprising  that  Highland  proprietors  have  paid 
so  little  attention  to  so  obvious  a  means  of  enriching  themselves.  With 
how  much  advantage  could  the  carpet  manufacture,  for  instance,  be 
carried  on,  where  the  wool  is  always  at  hand,  as  well  as  the  materials 

*  Montf.  X.  pi.  136. 


380 


SPECIMENS  OF  EARTHEN  WARE. 


for  dying  it.  Mr.  Cuthbert  Gordon,  before  mentioned,  declared  that  he 
had  made  a  discovery  which  would  lead  to  the  incalculable  benefit  of 
Scotland,  but  as  he  unfortunately  did  not  meet  with  sufficient  encourage- 
ment to  mature  his  plans,  which  I  believe  related  to  dye  stuffs,  the  val- 
uable secret  was  never  communicated  to  his  countrymen.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  but  that  the  Highland  weavers,  who  indeed,  as  it  is,  occa- 
sionally make  carpets  of  great  beauty  of  design  and  goodness  of  fabric, 
if  properly  encouraged,  would  soon  rival,  if  not  much  surpass,  the  man- 
ufacturers of  Kidderminster. 

The  vessels  represented  underneath  are  selected  from  various  discov- 
eries as  specimens  of  the  earthenware  manufactures  of  the  ancient  Cel- 
tic tribes  of  Britain,  and  must  be  allowed  to  be  not  altogether  deficient 
either  in  beauty  of  form  or  ornament.  That  in  the  centre  is  the  most 
usual  form  of  the  funereal  urn. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


POETRY  AND  MUSIC. 

The  estimation  in  which  poetry  was  held  by  the  ancients  is  well 
known.  It  is  the  original  vehicle  in  which  the  knowledge  of  past  events 
is  carried  down  to  posterity,  and  the  medium  through  which  laws  are  at 
first  promulgated.  Legislation  and  religion  are  at  first  intimately  con- 
nected, and  poetry  is  the  excellent  auxiliary  of  both.  Hesiod  and  other 
Greek  poets  lived  ages  before  Pherecides,  who,  according  to  Pliny,  was 
the  first  who  wrote  in  prose,  and  the  compositions  of  Homer  were  pre- 
served in  detached  pieces  by  oral  tradition,  long  before  they  were  col- 
lected and  embodied  in  the  regular  form  which  they  now  present. 

In  the  first  stages  of  civilisation  the  characters  of  priest  and  legislator 
are  combined,  whence  arises  the  connexion  of  poetry  with  the  first  in- 
stitutions of  society,  for  the  ministers  of  religion  are  both  poets  and 
musicians,  and  the  service  of  their  gods  and  precepts  of  morality  are 
equally  rendered  in  verse.  Before  the  era  of  written  record,  the  Greeks 
preserved  their  laws  in  traditionary  rhymes,  the  same  word  in  their  lan- 
guage signifying  a  law  and  a  song.*  The  statutes  of  this  people  continued 

*  Walker's  Irish  Bards,  who  quotes  Wood  on  the  genius  of  Homer. 


382 


ORAL  RECORD. 


long  to  remain  in  oral  record,  before  it  was  permitted  to  reduce  them  to 
writing.  The  progress  of  civilisation  softened  the  reluctance,  so  strong 
in  that  enlightened  race,  especially  among  the  Spartans,  to  commit  to 
the  preservation  of  letters,  the  laws  which  were  inculcated  in  popular 
verse,  but  when  inscribed  on  tablets  in  the  public  streets,  the  poetic 
form  was  rigidly  adhered  to. 

This  veneration  for  oral  record  strongly  pervaded  the  Celtic  race,  and 
it  regulated  society  among  the  Gael  of  Albin,  while  their  ancient  insti- 
tutions remained  entire.  The  principle  does  indeed  exist  to  this  day  in 
the  British  kingdom,  where  the  common  law  of  the  land  is  a  certain  un- 
written but  recognised  code,  emanating  according  to  the  opinion  of  the 
best  antiquaries,  from  the  Druidical  system  of  legislation.  The  well- 
known  practice  by  which  the  Recorder  of  London  is  obliged  to  make 
his  report  to  the  King  by  word  of  mouth,  is,  with  every  appearance  of 
probability,  referable  to  the  same  institution. 

The  chief  object  aimed  at  in  poetic  composition  being  the  assistance 
of  recollection,  no  pains  were  spared  to  improve  the  memory.  The  Py- 
thagoreans, a  sect  resembling  the  Celtic  Druids  exercised  their  memory 
with  the  greatest  care  and  diligence,  the  first  thing  they  did  in  the  morn- 
ing being  to  call  to  mind  whatever  they  had  done  the  preceding  day, 
from  morn  to  night,  and  if  time  permitted,  they  were  accustomed  to  re- 
count the  actions  of  the  day  previous,  the  third,  the  fourth,  and  even 
farther.*  In  no  shape  could  the  traditions  of  an  illiterate  people  be  pre- 
served so  effectually  as  in  verse,  which  in  ancient  composition  was  very 
simple,  a  character  applicable  to  the  early  poetry  of  all  nations.  The 
song  of  Moses  consists  of  a  certain  number  of  words  in  every  sentence, 
an  arrangement  eminently  conducive  to  the  mental  retention  of  the  sub- 
ject. 

The  Celtic  poetry  is  remarkably  forcible,  and  from  its  peculiar  con- 
struction is  easily  remembered,  and  it  was  an  object  of  great  solicitude 
to  teach  the  rising  generations  the  traditions  of  their  fathers.  It  was  not 
only  a  national  care,  but  was  esteemed  a  sacred  duty  in  parents  to  make 
their  children  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  ancient  poems.  The  expres- 
sion of  an  American  chief,  in  a  parallel  state  of  civilisation  with  the  old 
Highlanders,  is  here  applicable: — "  While  I  was  yet  young,  my  father 
taught  me  the  traditions  and  laws  of  the  nation,  day  by  day  and  night 
by  night."  Columba  is  said  to  have  retained  the  Celtic  practice  at  lona, 
and  delivered  his  precepts  in  verse;  it  would  even  appear  that  in  Ire- 
land, historical  relations  were  not  written  in  prose  before  the  twelfth 
century.  I 

The  influence  of  poetry  over  the  nations  of  antiquity  is  evinced  by 
many  signal  instances.  Tyrtaius,  by  chanting  his  verses,  so  inspirited 
the  Lacedemonians,  that  they  turned  the  tide  of  prosperity  and  came  off 
victorious.  The  Celtic  bards  stimulated  their  hearers  to  war,  or  sub- 
dued them  to  peace  by  the  mere  recitation  of  their  poems.    With  this 

*  Diodorus,  Fragmenta.    Valesii,  vi.  §  36,  37.  t  Walker's  Irish  Bards. 


INFLUENCE  OF  POETRY. 


383 


race  the  gift  of  poesy  was  highly  honored:  "  the  mouths  of  song"  were 
a  sacred  order.  When  Ovid,  in  his  banishment,  wrote  poems  in  the 
Getic  language,  the  admiring  people  crowned  him  with  laurel,  and  con- 
ferred on  him  many  honors  and  immunities.* 

The  ceremonials  of  Pagan  theology  were  conducted  in  verse,  the 
meaning  of  the  poems  being  wrapped  up  in  allegory  and  mysticism.  It 
is  probable  we  have  not  lost  much  that  would  have  been  useful  if  known, 
from  this  secrecy,  which  rather  appears  to  have  been  intended  to  keep  the 
vulgar  in  awe  than  to  preserve  information  of  past  transactions  or  know- 
ledge of  useful  arts,! — the  historical  records  were  not  concealed  from  those 
who  could  study  and  understand  them.  The  priests  of  antiquity  were 
national  historiographers.  Josephus'  Antiquities  of  the  Jewish  nation 
were  published  from  the  sacred  books,  and  in  the  stories  of  Greek  and 
Roman  theology,  relating  the  adventures  of  persons,  deified  in  sub- 
sequent times,  we  have  only  fragments  of  vague  and  traditional,  but  in 
most  cases,  if  divested  of  fable,  real  history.  The  old  poems  of  the 
Germans,  according  to  Tacitus,  were  their  only  registers.  The  songs 
of  the  bards  are  represented  as  consisting  chiefly  of  hymns  to  their  gods, 
and  poems  in  praise  of  their  ancestors,  but  in  these  were  contained  their 
national  annals,  for  the  origin  of  all  nations  is  connected  in  their  fabu- 
lous history  with  that  of  their  gods.  The  Celtic  bards  were  members 
of  the  priesthood,  and  no  class  of  society  among  the  ancients  have  been 
more  celebrated.  Whether  we  consider  the  influence  which  they  pos- 
sessed, their  learning  or  poetic  genius,  they  are  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting orders  of  antiquity,  and  worthy  of  our  entire  admiration. 

The  favorite  songs  of  the  bards  are  said  to  have  been  those  celebra- 
ting the  renown  of  their  ancestors.  The  praises  of  great  men  were 
accompanied  with  a  sort  of  religious  feeling.  It  was  not  only  useful  to 
the  living  to  extol  the  virtues  of  former  heroes  as  an  excitement  to  their 
imitation,  but  was  reckoned  extremely  pleasing  to  the  deceased — it  was 
indeed  thought  the  means  of  assisting  the  spirit  to  a  state  of  happiness, 
and  became  consequently  a  religious  duty.  But  even  where  this  super- 
stition has  no  influence,  an  elegy  on  a  deceased  friend  continues  to  grat- 
ify the  human  mind,  and  the  example  of  virtue  seldom  fails  to  inspire 
youth  with  a  generous  spirit  of  emulation.  Eginhart  celebrates  Char- 
lemagne for  committing  to  writing  and  to  memory  the  songs  on  the  wars 
and  heroic  virtues  of  his  predecessors,  and  Asser  bestows  similar  praise 
on  the  great  Alfred.  With  how  much  effect  the  Celtic  bards  pursued 
the  practice  of  inflaming  their  hearers  with  a  spirit  of  freedom  is  uni- 
versally acknowledged.  So  influential  were  they,  that  national  enter- 
prises were  directed  and  controlled  by  them;  and  the  Roman  policy  so 
cruelly  carried  into  effect  by  Suetonius  in  Anglesea,  was  imitated  by 

*  Clark. 

t  The  Orphic  verses  are  believed  to  have  been  the  very  hymns  sung  by  the  initiated 
in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries.  "  He  that  has  been  initiated  in  the  mysteries  of  Eleusis 
or  has  read  the  poems  called  Orphic,  will  know  what  I  mean."    Pausanias,  i.  36. 


384 


BARDIC  POEMS. 


Edward  the  First  in  his  sanguinary  wars  with  the  Cumri.  Even  Queen 
Elizabeth  thought  it  necessary  to  enact  some  laws  to  restrain  and  dis- 
courage the  bards  both  of  Ireland  and  Wales. 

Tlie  Bardic  compositions,  commemorating  the  worth  and  exploits  of 
heroes  who  had  successively  figured  in  the  different  states,  were  a  sort 
of  national  annals  which  served  the  double  purpose  of  preserving  the 
memory  of  past  transactions,  and  of  stimulating  the  youth  to  an  imitation 

their  virtuous  ancestors.  The  lives  of  the  upright  Celtic  statesmen 
and  heroes  were  handed  down  to  posterity,  and  exhibited  as  illustrious 
examples  for  the  youth  to  follow.  Their  virtues  were  detailed  in  verse 
so  forcible,  and  national  calamities  were  portrayed  in  language  so  af- 
fecting, that  the  hearers  were  excited  to  the  most  daring  heroism.  On 
occasion  of  an  embassy  from  the  Romans  to  Attila,  two  bards  recited  to 
him  a  poem  celebrating  his  victories,  and  so  powerfully  were  the  audi- 
ence affected,  that  whilst  the  young  men  exulted  in  rapture,  the  old 
shed  tears  of  regret  that  their  vigor  was  gone.*  The  effusions  of  Ne- 
lan,  a  bard  of  Erin,  more  powerful  than  the  wise  council  of  the  Chris- 
tian primate,  stimulated  to  precipitate  rebellion  Lord  Thomas  Geraldine, 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  The  sublime  strains  in  which  the  virtues 
of  the  chiefs  of  Morven  are  celebrated,  continued  to  animate  the  Gael 
until  the  decline  of  bardism  and  subversion  of  their  institutions,  and  they 
still  remain,  even  in  translation,  specimens  of  most  admirable  composi- 
tion. Diodorus  informs  us,  that  the  bards  had  power  to  prevent  an  en- 
gagement, even  when  the  spears  were  levelled  for  immediate  action. 
This  strong  influence  was  probably  increased  by  their  religious  charac- 
ter, in  which  they  were  able  to  determine  when  it  was  expedient  to  fight, 
in  reference  to  which,  the  Irish  tell  us  the  shaking  "the  chain  of 
silence"  was  the  signal  to  prevent  or  to  put  a  stop  to  the  battle. 

The  practice  of  animating  troops  by  the  chanting  of  heroic  poems  is 
of  most  ancient  origin.  Tyrtaeus,  the  Lacedemonian,  who  flourished  680 
years  before  our  era,  composed  five  books  of  war  verses,  some  frag- 
ments of  which  it  is  believed  yet  remain.  Tacitus  speaks  of  the  old 
poems  of  the  Germans,  some  of  which  related  to  the  origin  of  the  people, 
and  the  collection  continued  to  increase,  for  it  was  the  duty  of  the  priests 
or  bards  to  commemorate  events,  to  celebrate  the  virtues  and  denounce 
the  vices  of  successive  heroes.  One  poem,  celebrating  the  worth  of  Ar- 
minius,  a  hero  famous  for  his  struggles  for  freedom,  was  composed  in 
the  days  of  Tacitus. | 

It  was  not  only  in  actual  war,  and  previous  to  an  engagement,  that  the 
bards  rehearsed  their  spirit-stirring  compositions;  each  chief  was  con- 
stantly attended  by  a  number  of  these  poets,  who  entertained  him  at  his 
meals,  and  roused  his  own  and  his  followers'  courage  by  their  powerful 
recitations.  The  liberal  manner  in  which  this  order  was  provided  for, 
shows  how  indispensable  their  services  were  reckoned,  and,  in  return 
for  so  much  respect,  the  bards  were  most  assiduous  to  please  their  pa- 


*  Priscus,  quoted  in  Robertson's  Charles  V. 


t  Annals. 


BARDIC  EDUCATION. 


385 


trons,  and  blazon  their  renown.  The  profession,  even  in  recent  times, 
was  by  no  means  one  of  easy  acquirement.  It  was  indeed  hereditary, 
but  a  long  course  of  study,  and  a  life  of  continual  practice,  were  neces- 
sary for  proper  qualification  and  due  success.  In  a  publication,  by 
Cambray,  member  of  the  Celtic  Academy  at  Paris,  it  is  said  that  Dru- 
idic  learning  comprised  60,000  verses,  which  those  of  the  first  class 
were  obliged  to  get  by  heart.*  The  Irish  bard,  according  to  Walker, 
was  obliged  to  study  for  twelve  years,  before  he  was  admitted  to  the  or- 
der, the  OUamh,  perfecting  himself  by  a  probation  of  three  years  devot- 
ed to  each  of  the  four  principal  branches  of  poetry.  Campion  says  they 
spent  sixteen  or  twenty  years  at  their  education,  and  talked  Latin  like  a 
vulgar  language.  *' I  have  scene  them,"  says  he,  "  where  they  kept 
schoole,  ten  in  some  orie  chamber,  groveling  upon  couches  of  straw, 
their  bookes  at  their  noses,  themselves  lying  flat  postrate."  This  refers 
to  a  comparatively  late  period,  but  it  shows  that  their  acquirements  were 
not  superficial,  and  that  a  common  education  was  by  no  means  sufficient 
for  an  aspirant  to  poetical  famcf  When  a  student  was  admitted  to  the 
profession  of  bardism,  he  was  honored  with  the  degree  of  ollamh,  or 
doctor,  and  received  an  honorary  cap,  called  barred.  In  192,  the  law- 
ful price  of  the  clothing  of  an  ollamh,  and  of  an  anra,  or  second  poet, 
in  Ireland,  was  fixed  at  five  milch  cows.  Concovar  Mac  Nessa,  King 
of  Ulster,  is  represented  in  Irish  history  as  establishing  seven  grada- 
tions in  the  order  of  Fileas,J  which  is  said  to  have  originally  combined 
in  one  person  the  offices  of  seanachaidh  and  breitheamh.  These  were 
the  Fochlucan,  who  was  obliged  to  repeat,  if  asked,  thirty  tales;  the 
Macfuirmidh,  who  had  to  repeat  forty;  the  Doss,  who  repeated  fifty; 
the  Canaith,  whose  name  seems  derived  from  canadh,  to  sing;  the  Cli, 
the  Anstruth,  so  called  from  an,  good,  and  sruth,  knowing;  and  lastly 
the  Ollamh,  who  required  to  store  his  memory  with  seven  times  fifty  sto- 
ries. An  account  of  their  various  duties,  real  or  supposed,  may  be  seen 
in  Walker's  History  of  the  Bards.  The  Irish  authorities  are  extremely 
questionable,  but  it  appears  from  other  proofs  that  the  different  prov- 
inces of  the  profession  were  committed  to  separate  individuals.  The 
Scots  of  both  countries  had  originally  their  Ferlaoi,  or  hymnists;  the 
Ferdan,  who  sang  the  praises  of  the  good  and  valiant;  and  the  Sean- 
achaidh, or  Seanachies,  to  whom  were  submitted  the  registration  of 
events  and  preservation  of  family  history,  but  on  the  declension  of  the 
system,  the  offices  were  often  necessarily  held  by  one  person. 

The  Caledonian  bards  officiated  as  a  sort  of  aides-de-camp  to  the 
chief,  communicating  his  orders  to  the  chieftains  and  their  followers,  an 
office  that  tends  to  confirm  my  explanation  of  the  beum  sgiath,  or  strik- 
ing of  the  shield.  When  Fingal  retires  to  view  the  battle,  "  three  bards 
attend  to  bear  his  words  to  the  chiefs."    Each  chief  appears  to  have 

*  Mac  Arthur's  Observations  on  Ossian's  Poems. 

t  The  last  Filean  school  was  kept  in  Tipperary,  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  by  Boethi- 
us'Mac  Eaoran.  "     I  Walker's  Irish  Bards. 

49 


386 


BARDIC  DUTIES. 


had  a  favorite  or  principal  bard,  similar  to  the  Welsh  domestic  bard, 
who  closely  attended  the  person  of  his  master.  The  bards  animated  the 
troops  in  battle,  and  amused  them  by  their  songs  during  the  hours  of 
darkness — "  song  on  song  deceived  as  was  wont  the  night."  Nor  was 
this  part  of  their  duty  confined  to  the  field;  they  solaced  their  master 
after  the  fatigues  of  the  day,  and  composed  his  mind  for  rest  by  their  mo- 
ral and  entertaining  recitations.  The  bard  was  an  important  member 
of  the  Comhairlich,  or  counsellors  presiding  over  and  directing  in  his 
professional  character  their  deliberations.  "  Though  it  was  every  man's 
duty  to  fill  the  ear  of  his  chief  with  useful  truths,  it  was  more  particu- 
larly the  duty  of  the  Filea,  for  to  such  only  do  princes  lend  an  ear." 
Some  curious  particulars  of  their  duties  may  be  found  in  Ossian.  When 
a  bard  brings  a  challenge  to  battle  from  Torlath,  he  refused  to  raise  the 
song  himself,  or  listen  to  the  bards  of  Cuthullin,  who  had  invited  him  to 
partake  of  their  cheer,  but  as  he  withdrew,  he  sings  an  extempore  poem, 
which,  in  mystical  language,  alludes  to  the  slaughter  that  is  to  ensue. 
"  The  meteors  of  death  are  there,"  says  he,  as  he  looks  to^)^rards  the  hill, 
"the  grey  watery  forms  of  ghosts."  This  must  be  considered  a  coro- 
nach in  anticipation  over  the  Gael,  who  were  to  fall,  and  it  is  curious 
that  Cuthullin's  bard  joins  in  it. 

An  important  part  of  the  bardic  duty  was,  the  preservation  of  the  gen- 
ealogies and  descent  of  the  chiefs  and  the  tribe,  which  were  solemnly 
repeated  at  marriages,  baptistns,  and  burials.  The  last  purpose  for 
which  they  were  retained  by  the  Highlanders  was,  to  preserve  a  faithful 
history  of  their  respective  clans. 

Lachlan  Mac  Neil,  mhic  Lachlan,  mhic  Neil,  mhic  Donald,  mhic 
Lachlan,  mhic  Neil  more,  mhic  Lachlan,  mhic  Donald,  of  the  surname 
of  Mac  Mhuirich  declared,*  that  according  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge, 
he  is  the  eighteenth  in  descent  from  Mhuireach,  whose  posterity  had  offi- 
ciated as  bards  to  Clan-Rannald,  and  that  they  had,  as  the  salary  of  their 
office,  the  farm  of  Staoiligary,  and  four  pennies  of  Drimisdale,  during 
fifteen  generations.  That  the  sixteenth  lost  the  four  pennies,  but  the 
seventeenth  retained  the  farm  of  Staoiligary  for  nineteen  years.  That 
there  was  a  right  given  to  them  over  these  lands  as  long  as  there  should 
be  any  of  the  posterity  of  Mhuireach  to  preserve  and  continue  the  gene- 
alogy and  history  of  the  Mac  Donalds,  on  condition  that  the  bard,  fail- 
ing of  male  issue,  should  educate  his  brother's  son  or  representative,  in 
order  to  preserve  their  title  to  the  lands,  and  it  was  in  pursuance  of  this 
custom  that  his  father  had  been  taught  to  read  and  write  history  and 
poetry  by  Donald  Mac  Neil,  mhic  Donald  his  father's  brother.  This  last 
of  the  race,  who,  according  to  Doctor  Mac  Pherson,  was  "a  man  of 
some  letters,  and  had,  like  his  ancestors,  received  his  education  in  Ire- 
land, and  knew  Latin  tolerably  well,"*  was  bard,  genealogist,  and  sea- 
nachaidh. 


*  Before  Roderick  Mac  Leod,  J.  P.  and  in  presence  of  six  clergymen  and  gentlemen 
+  Letter  to  Dr.  Blair. 


RESPECT  FOR  THE  BARDS. 


3&7 


From  their  antiquarian  knowledge,  the  bards  were  called  seanachaidh, 
from  scan,  old,  a  title  synonymous  with  the  Welsh,  arvydd  vardd,  an  offi- 
cer who  latterly  was  of  national  appointment,  and  whose  heraldic  duties 
were  recognised  by  the  English  College  of  Arms.  They  attended  at 
the  birth,  marriage,  and  death  of  all  persons  of  high  descent,  and  the 
marwnod,  or  elegy,  which  they  composed  on  the  latter  occasion  "  was 
required  to  contain,  truly,  and  at  length,  the  genealogy  and  descent  of 
the  deceased  from  eight  immediate  ancestors — to  notice  the  several  col- 
lateral branches  of  the  family,  and  to  commemorate  the  surviving  wife 
or  husband.  These  he  registered  in  his  books,  and  delivered  a  true 
copy  of  them  to  the  heir,  &c.,  and  it  was  produced  the  day  after  the 
funeral,  when  all  the  principal  branches  of  the  family  and  their  friends 
were  assembled  together  in  the  great  hall  of  the  mansion,  and  then  re- 
cited with  an  audible  voice."*  He  also  made  a  visitation  called  the 
bard's  circuit,  once  every  three  years,  to  all  the  gentlemens'  houses, 
where  he  registered  and  corrected  their  armorial  bearings.  Many  of 
their  books  still  exist,  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  bard  or  the  house 
whose  honors  it  records,  and  some  of  their  awards  of  arms  are  of  so  late 
a  date  as  1703.  One  of  the  Triads  commemorates  the  three  golden 
robed  heralds,  Caswallon,  son  of  Beli,  &c.  The  bard  had  a  stipend 
paid  out  of  every  plough  land,  and  the  chief  was  called  "  King  of  the 
Bards." 

Much  has  been  done  to  restore  the  order  of  bards  in  the  Principality, 
or  at  least  to  encourage  the  effusions  of  Cumraeg  poesy  and  music,  and 
many  meritorious  individuals  have  met  with  flattering  encouragement. 
I  believe  the  kings  of  Great  Britain  have  always  maintained  a  Welsh 
minstrel.  In  the  laws  of  Hwyel  Dha,  it  is  said  that  at  an  entertainment 
the  bard  ought  to  commence  singing  in  praise  of  God,  and  then  in  praise 
of  the  king,  and  the  fine  for  insulting  him  is  six  cows,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  silver  pennies,  his  value  being  estimated  at  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  cows.  He  was  assigned  a  place  at  table  suitable  to  his  rank.f 
In  the^  reign  of  Harald  Harfager,  the  bards,  or  scalds,  sat  next  to  the 
king.  The  Aois  dana  of  the  Gael,  mentioned  in  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  who  appear  to  have  been  a  certain  class  of  bards,  sat  in 
the  sreath  or  circle,  among  the  chiefs,  and  took  precedence  of  the 
ollamh  or  doctor,  the  title  which  was  bestowed  on  completion  of  the  bar- 
dic studies.  Their  persons,  houses,  and  villages,  were  sacred. J  A  re- 
spect for  the  bards  continued  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the 
precepts  they  inculcated  being  unobjectionable,  and  the  early  missiona- 
ries appear  to  have  held  them  in  considerable  esteem.  Columba  had  a 
particular  regard  for  th«m,  and  actually  became  their  advocate  at  the 
celebrated  council  of  Drumceat,  in  580,  mediating  successfully  between 
those  of  Ireland  and  the  King  who  threatened  their  extirpation,  for  their 
insolence  had  become  insupportable,  and  they  at  last  insisted  on  receiv- 
ing  the  royal  buckle  and  pin  of  gold,  too  audacious  a  demand  to  be  un- 

*  Preface  to  the  History  of  Cardiganshire.  t  See  p.  337.  t  Armstrong. 


S88 


POEMS  OF  OSSIAN. 


hesitatingly  complied  with.  The  honors  which  were  heaped  on  this  body 
made  them  forget  themselves.  Their  arrogance  in  Wales  arose  to  such 
a  height,  that  in  the  time  of  Griffyth  ap  Cynan,  it  was  necessary  to  con- 
trol them  from  asking  the  king's  horse,  greyhound,  or  hawk. 

No  event  in  the  annals  of  literature  has  excited  so  much  wonder  and 
curiosity  as  the  publication  of  those  ancient  Gaelic  poems,  usually  dis- 
tinguished as  Ossianic,  from  the  name  of  that  most  distinguished  of  the 
Caledonian  bards.  To  those  unacquainted  with  the  state  of  society  in 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  lamentable  until  lately  was  the  igno- 
rance concerning  that  part  of  the  kingdom,  the  existence  of  traditional 
poetry  of  such  antiquity  appeared  impossible,  and  skepticism,  confirmed 
by  the  unaccountable  reserve  of  the  translator,  bestowed  on  him  an 
honor,  and  imputed  to  him  a  merit,  of  which  he  was  by  no  means  wor- 
thy— that  of  being  the  author  of  the  poems  in  question.  Public  opinion 
was  indeed  divided  as  to  the  authenticity  of  Ossian's  poems,  but  the 
general  belief  at  first  was,  that  they  were  an  impudent  forgery,  and  the 
talents  of  many  learned  individuals  were  exerted  to  expose  the  impost- 
ure. Their  writings,  as  might  be  expected,  had  for  some  time  great 
weight,  while  the  only  satisfactory  answer  to  their  objections  was  not 
returned.  The  regret  of  the  admirers  of  this  sublime  bard,  and  vindica- 
tors of  his  poems,  was  at  last  relieved  by  the  publication  of  the  origin- 
als, by  that  truly  patriotic  body  the  Highland  Society.  A  reference  to 
these  most  interesting  relics  might  be  sufficient,  but,  consistent  with  the 
design  of  this  work,  I  shall  endeavor  to  display  the  manners  by  which 
their  preservation  was  effected — manners  which  no  longer  exist  in  Eu- 
rope, and  which,  after  a  continuance  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  record, 
expired  with  the  system  of  social  government,  which  received  its  mortal 
blow  in  the  Act  of  1748. 

The  history  of  the  Celts,  their  laws,  and  usages,  were  preserved  in 
their  poems,  which  were  their  only  registers.  It  has  been  shown  that 
traditional  verse  was  the  only  medium  by  which  the  early  Greeks  trans- 
mitted their  most  important  statutes,  and  the  memory  of  past  transactions, 
and  that  it  was  by  no  means  a  "  feeble  instrument"  is  very  evident.  The 
oral  registers  of  the  Germans  were  ancient  in  the  days  of  Tacitus,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  fluctuations  and  reverses  of  that  people,  they  were  not 
forgotten  even  in  the  eighth  century.  The  Lusitani  had  poems,  which 
they  maintained  were  two  thousand  years  old. 

When  we  consider  that  the  preservation  of  these  national  annals  was 
entrusted  to  the  Druidical  order,  and  was  a  point  of  the  utmost  public 
solicitude,  and  when  we  consider  that  the  vanity  of  individuals,  whose 
own  exploits,  or  those  of  their  ancestors  were  celebrated,  was  flattered 
by  the  record  of  their  fame,  we  perceive  strong  motives  acting  in  aid  of 
the  preservation  of  these  singular  historical  monuments.  It  is  not  to  be 
forgotten  also,  that  this  personal  feeling  pervaded  the  whole  nation,  for 
if  the  memory  of  a  chief  was  consecrated  to  fame  in  the  impressive  strains 
of  the  bards,  his  followers,  from  the  ties  of  consanguinity,  felt  closely 


POEMS  OF  OSSIAN. 


389 


interested  in  the  glory  of  their  clansman.  That  the  Celts  preferred  oral 
record  to  that  of  writing  may  be  regretted,  since  to  this  prejudice  the  loss 
of  much  information,  which  would  probably  have  been  highly  curious 
and  instructive,  is  to  be  attributed;  but  as  both  the  principles  and  prac- 
tice of  the  Druids  were  hostile  to  literature,  we  can  only  pursue  the 
investigation  of  the  peculiar  system  which  they  chose  to  follow,  and  al- 
lowing the  above  causes  their  united  effect,  added  to  this  other  powerful 
one,  that  the  chief  amusement,  both  public  and  private,  was  the  recitation 
of  their  poems,  much  of  our  wonder  at  the  long  preservation  of  bardic 
compositions  must  cease. 

Many  of  those  who  believe  it  impossible  for  poems  or  prose  relations 
to  be  preserved  for  any  length  of  time  without  being  committed  to  writ- 
ing, do  not  advert  to  the  ancient  state  of  society.  To  instruct  the  youth 
in  the  traditional  knowledge  of  their  country  was  then  a  branch  of  the 
most  careful  education,  and  that  knowledge  was  couched  in  verse.  If 
a  novitiate  in  Druidism  spent  twenty  years  in  getting  by  heart  the 
knowledge  necessary  for  his  profession,  some  idea  may  be  formed  of 
the  amount  of  learning  which  the  sons  of  the  better  classes  found  it  ne- 
cessary to  acquire.  The  choicest  pieces  of  ancient  poetry  have  come 
down  to  us  in  the  same  manner  as  Ossian's  productions.  The  poems  of 
Homer  were  preserved  in  detached  parts,  called  Rhapsodies,  as,  the  bat- 
tle at  the  ships,  the  death  of  Dolon,  &c.,  long  before  they  assumed  their 
present  form;  and  the  Athenians  found  it  necessary  to  offer  rewards  to 
those  who  could  furnish  the  most  authentic  fragments  of  the  Iliad  or 
Odyssey,  before  they  were  able  to  produce  the  works  as  they  now 
appear.*  Even  since  the  Christian  era,  the  ability  to  repeat  traditional 
poetry  was  reckoned  a  qualification  not  unbefitting  the  highest  princes. 
Charlemagne  is  praised  for  his  talents  this  way,  and  he  had  made  a 
large  collection  of  most  ancient  poems,  which  in  barbarous  style  related 
the  actions  of  the  first  kings.'}' 

That  poems  of  great  antiquity  existed  at  the  period  when  Ossian  sung, 
is  evident  from  the  frequent  allusion  he  makes  to  "the  songs  of  old," 
and  bards  of  other  years.  "  Thou  shall  endure,  said  the  bard  of  ancient 
daijs,  after  the  moss  of  time  shall  grow  in  Temora;  after  the  blast  of 
years  shall  roar  in  Selma."J  The  Tain-bo,  or  cattle  spoil  of  Cualgne, 
commemorating  an  event  that  occurred  1838  years  ago,  is  believed  to 
be  the  oldest  poem  in  the  Gaelic  language.  The  Albanach  Duan,  a 
poem  of  the  time  of  Malcolm  III.,  1056,  which  is  an  indisputed  relic, 
must  have  been  composed  from  poems  much  anterior  to  its  own  age, 
and  this  is  admitted  by  those  who  have  been  most  noted  for  their  skepti- 
cism as  to  Celtic  literature.^ 

The  lengthened  discussions  on  the  authenticity  of  the  poems  ascribed 
to  the  Caledonian  bard,  relieve  me,  in  a  great  measure,  from  the  task 
of  advocating  at  length  their  antiquity.  "The  poems  of  Ossian,*'  says 
Gibbon,  "  according  to  every  hypothesis,  were  composed  by  a  native 


*^lian.       t  Eginhart.  t  Smith's  Gallic  Antiquities.       §  Pinkerton,  &c. 


300 


POEMS  OF  OSSIAN. 


Caledonian."  The  era  of  that  Caledonian  was  the  end  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. When  accounts  of  Mac  Pherson's  publication  of  these  poems 
and  the  controversies  which  it  engendered  had  reached  the  Highlands, 
the  natives  were  equally  surprised  at  the  doubts  concerning  their  genu- 
ineness, at  the  scanty  collection  which  had  been  made,  and  their  imper- 
fect translation.  Finding  so  much  interest  excited,  they  were  not  a 
little  displeased  that  more  justice  was  not  done  to  the  memory  of  their 
venerated  poet.*  ^' There  is  infinitely  more,"  says  Mac  Donald,  of 
Killepheder  in  his  deposition,  "to  be  found  among  us,  than  what  Mac 
Pherson  is  said  to  have  translated  of  the  works  of  Ossian;  and  that  to 
many  persons  who  never  saw  that  man,  who  never  heard  of  his  name, 
and  who  are  totally  ignorant  of  the  English  language."  The  Rev.  Don- 
ald Mac  Leod  of  Glenelg  writes  thus  to  Dr.  Blair,  in  1764.  "  Mac 
Pherson  took  too  little  time  to  be  able  to  have  collected  the  whole  of 
them;  for  as  the  works  of  Ossian  are  dispersed  all  over  the  Highlands, 
there  is  not  a  clan  through  whose  lands  you  travel,  but  you  will  find 
some  one  of  these  poems  among  them,  which  is  not  to  be  met  with  any 
where  else." 

The  knowledge  of  these  poems  was  not  confined  to  the  Highlands. 
From  the  history  of  King  Robert  Bruce,  written  by  Barbour,  Archdea- 
con of  Aberdeen,  about  1380,  we  find  that  they  were  well  known  in  the 
Lowlands.  In  the  third  book  we  are  informed,  that  when  the  Lord  of 
Lorn  saw  that  his  troops  durst  not  follow  the  enemy,  he  was  "rychtan- 
gry  in  his  hert,"  and  said 

 "  methink  Marthokys  son, 

Rycht  as  Gaul  Mac  Morn  was  won, 

To  haif  fra  Fingal  his  menzie, 

Rycht  swa  all  hys  fra  us  has  he." 

Boethius  f  calls  the  King  of  Morven,  concerning  whom  fabulous  sto- 
ries were  sung,  Fynnan  filius  Coeli;  and  Gawin  Douglas  speaks  of  Gow 
Mac  Morn  and  Fyn  Mac  Coul, — 

My  foir  grand  syr  hecht  Fyn  Makoull, 
That  dang  the  deil  and  gart  him  yowl."t 

Fingal  and  Ossian  are  mentioned  in  Mac  Geoghagan's  Ireland,  1627. 
A  MS.  in  the  British  Museum,  noticed  by  Pinkerton,  also  alludes  to 
them;^  and  Buchannan,  in  his  History  of  the  Buchannans  and  other 
clans,  mentions  "rude  rhimes  on  Fin  M'Coel." 

*  Ewen  Mac  Pherson,  aged  73,  who  made  a  declaration  in  1800,  that  he  accompanied 
the  translator  to  several  of  the  Isles,  relates  the  following  anecdote  of  his  travelling  com- 
panion. Having  met  with  Mac  Codrum,  a  descendant  of  a  race  of  bards,  he  asked  him, 
"  a  bheil  dad  agad  air  an  Fhein  ?  "  This  question,  it  would  appear  from  the  incorrect- 
ness or  inelegance  of  the  Gaelic,  could  bear  another  construction,  viz.  Are  the  Fin- 
galians  indebted  to  you  ?  of  which  Mac  Codrum,  being  a  man  of  humor,  took  advan- 
tage, and  answered,  that  "  really  if  they  owed  him  any  thing,  the  bonds  and  obligations 
were  lost,  and  he  believed  any  attempt  to  recover  them  at  the  present  day  would  be 
unavailing  ;  "  which  sally  of  Mac  Codrum's  wit  offended  Mac  Pherson,  who  cut  short 
the  conversation  and  proceeded  towards  Benbecula. 

t  Lib.  vii.  t  Evergreen,  p.  259.  §  Ayscough's  Cat.  4817. 


POEMS  OF  OSSIAN 


391 


All  this  indisputably  shows  that  the  poems  now  before  the  world  were 
formerly  well  known  throughout  Scotland  and  Ireland;  and  it  must  be 
declared,  that  however  much  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Mac  Pherson,  the 
obligation  must  be  shared  with  others;  for  besides  the  partial  translations 
of  Jerome  Stone  and  Mr.  Hill,  who  published  portions  of  these  poems 
some  time  before  Mac  Pherson,  a  large  collection  of  them  were  made 
long  previous  by  Doctor  Smith,  of  Campbelltown,  which  he  afterwards 
gave  to  the  public,  under  the  title  of  "  Gallic  Antiquities."  This  gen- 
tleman was  a  native  of  Glenurchy,  and  heard  an  old  man  called  Doncha 
rioch  Mac  Nicol,  who  was  famous  for  his  knowledge  of  traditional  lore, 
repeat  many  of  the  Ossianic  poems.  The  Fletchers  of  Glenforsa  were 
also  famous  for  their  recitation.  Mr.  Mac  Donald,  a  priest  in  Moidart, 
knew  a  whole  poem  that  had  escaped  the  research  of  Mac  Pherson;  and 
"  Cath  Benedin,"  the  Rev.  Donald  Mac  Leod  says,  was  recovered 
after  the  collection  was  published,  and  he  thinks  it  superior  to  any  of 
the  others.  A  Mr.  Mac  Diarmid,  of  Weem,  in  Perthshire,  got  Ossian's 
Addresses  to  the  Sun,  as  they  appear  in  Carthon  and  Carricthura  about 
1770,  from  the  repetition  of  an  old  man  in  Glenlyon,  who  had  learned 
them  in  his  youth  from  people  in  the  same  glen.  It  may  be  here  observ 
ed  that  this  beautiful  address  was  particularly  pointed  out  as  a  glaring 
forgery! 

Captain  John  Mac  Donald,  of  Thurso,  who  was  formerly  of  Breakish, 
in  Sky,  and  furnished  Mac  Pherson  with  some  of  the  pieces  in  his  col- 
lection, declared  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  on  the  12th  of  March,  1805, 
that  when  a  boy  of  twelve,  or  fifteen,  he  could  repeat  from  one  to  two 
hundred  poems,  which  he  learned  from  an  old  man  of  about  eighty,  who 
used  to  sing  them  to  his  father  at  night  when  he  went  to  bed,  and  in 
spring  and  winter  before  he  got  up.  Niel  Mac  Mhuireach  repeated  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Mac  Niel  the  whole  of  the  poem  of  Clan  Usnoch,  called 
by  Mac  Pherson,  Darthula.  Malcolm  Mac  Pherson,  in  Portree,  Isle 
of  Sky,  son  of  Dougal  Mac  Pherson,  who  had  been  tenant  in  Benfuter, 
in  Trotternish,  and  was  an  eminent  bard,  declared  on  oath  before  two 
justices  of  the  peace,  that  his  brother,  who  died  in  1780,  recited  four 
days  and  four  nights  to  Mac  Pherson. 

What  has  been  said,  it  is  hoped,  will  show  that  there  was  nothing  to 
render  the  preservation  of  poems  for  so  many  centuries  impossible;  nay, 
that  under  such  circumstances  they  could  scarcely  be  lost,  and  convince 
the  skeptical  that  such  poems  have  been  fortunately  saved  from  oblivion 
and  brought  down  to  our  times  in  great  purity. 

Nothing  has  yet  been  said  of  Gaelic  MSS.  which  Dr.  Johnson  and 
many  others  believed  could  not  be  found  except  of  modern  date. 

The  Highland  Society  has  now  in  its  possession  various  MS.  versions 
of  Ossian's  poems,  of  different  ages,  the  oldest  of  which  the  late  Mr.  As- 
tle,  keeper  of  the  records  in  the  Tower,  a  competent  judge,  pronounced 
to  be  of  the  ninth  century.  This,  to  be  sure,  does  not  reach  the  period 
when  the  bard  flourished,  but  it  disproves  the  assertions  of  those  who 


392 


POEMS  OF  OSSIAN. 


maintained  that  there  never  were  any  written  poems.  I  think  Dr.  Mac 
Phcrson  speaks  very  reasonably,  when  he  says,  we  have  among  us 
many  ancient  MSS.  of  detached  pieces  of  Ossian's  works,  and  these 
may  have  been  copied  from  MSS.  still  more  ancient."  A  tradition  is 
noticed  by  Dr.  Smith,  that  Mac  Alpin  took  down  all  Ossian's  poems  as 
he  repeated  them;  and  another  tradition,  which  need  not  be  repeated, 
informs  us  of  the  cause  of  their  destruction.  The  Scots,  as  may  be 
seen  in  another  part  of  the  work,  were  very  early  acquainted  with  the 
use  of  letters,  and  were  distinguished  throughout  Europe  for  their 
learning. 

A  few  of  the  depositions  of  those  persons  examined  on  the  subject  will 
prove  more  satisfactorily  that  MSS.  did  exist,  and  show  the  means  by 
which  the  interesting  and  beautiful  compositions  of  the  Gaelic  bards 
were  preserved,  more  satisfactorily  than  any  argument  of  mine,  while  it 
will,  at  the  same  time,  elucidate  the  former  state  of  that  celebrated 
order. 

Hugh  Mac  Donald,  of  Killepheder  in  South  Uist,  before-mentioned, 
says,  in  his  testimony  as  translated,  that  the  last  bard  of  the  Mac  Don- 
ald family  "  was  John  Mac  Codrum,  who  had  lands  and  maintenance 
from  Sir  James  Mac  Donald,  and  from  his  brother  and  immediate  suc- 
cessor, the  late  Lord  Mac  Donald.  John  Mac  Codrum's  predecessor 
was  Duncan  Mac  Ruari,  who  possessed,  as  bard  and  by  inheritance, 
the  lands  in  the  district  of  Trotternish,  in  Sky,  called  Ach  na'  m'Bard, 
(the  bard's  field,)  and  his  descendants,  as  well  as  the  collateral  branches 
of  his  family,  are  to  this  very  day  called  Clann  'a  Bhaird."  He  ob- 
serves, that  the  bards  of  Clan  Rannald  held  their  lands  on  the  express 
condition  of  transmitting  in  writing  the  history  and  poetry  connect- 
ed with  the  family;  and  continues,  "there  is  still  extant  a  poem  com- 
posed by  one  of  them,  Niel  Mor  Mac  Mhuirich,  to  the  Mac  Donalds, 
immediately  before  the  battle  of  Gariach,  called  the  Prosnachadh  cath 
Gariach.  As  a  proof  of  the  estimation  in  which  the  bards  were  held, 
I  need  only  mention,  that  when  the  chief  of  the  Mac  Leeds  dismiss- 
ed Mac  gilli  Riabhich,  his  family  bard,  Mac  Donald  received  him 
hospitably,  and  gave  him  lands  on  the  farm  of  Kilmorey,  in  Trotternish, 
which  retain  to  this  day  the  name  of  "  Baile  gilli  Riabhich.'* 

Mac  Mhuireach,  part  of  whose  testimony  is  given  in  p.  386,  remem- 
bered well,  that  works  of  Ossian,  written  on  parchment,  were  in  the  cus- 
tody of  his  father,  as  received  from  his  predecessors,  some  in  the  form 
of  books,  and  some  loose  and  separate,  which  contained  the  works  of 
other  bards  besides  those  of  Ossian.  He  affirmed  that  the  leabhar 
dearg,  or  red  book,  was  long  in  his  father's  possession,  and  was  receiv- 
ed from  his  predecessors.  It  was  of  paper,  and  contained  a  good  deal 
of  the  history  of  the  clans,  written  by  different  hands.  He  remembered 
well  that  Clan  Rannald  made  his  father  give  up  the  red  book  to  James 
Mac  Pherson,  from  Badenach.  Several  parchments,  he  believed,  were 
taken  away  by  the  Rev.  Alexander  Mac  Donald  and  his  son  Ronald, 


POEMS  OF  OSSIAN. 


393 


but  he  saw  others  cut  up  by  the  tailors  for  measures.*  He  having  no 
longer  any  lands,  and  not  being  taught  to  read,  he  set  no  value  on  them. 
This  declaration  he  signed  before  Roderick  Mac  Leod,  J.  P.,  in  pres- 
ence of  six  other  clergymen  and  gentlemen.  Dr.  Mac  Pherson  knew 
the  last  of  these  bards,  who  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Isles  before  they  entered  that  of  Clan  Rannald.  He  was  a  man  of 
some  letters,  understood  Latin,  and,  like  his  ancestors,  received  his  ed- 
ucation in  Ireland.  He  travelled  through  the  country  about  1735,  and 
read  as  well  as  repeated  poems  from  a  MS. 

Malcolm  Mac  Pherson,  in  Portree,  gave  to  the  translator  of  Ossian 
a  4to.  volume  about  IJ  inch  thick,  containing  the  works  of  that  bard, 
which  he  had  procured  at  Loch  Carron  when  an  apprentice.  Lord 
Kames,  in  his  Sketches  of  Man,  mentions  four  books  of  Fingal  that  Mac 
Pherson  got  in  Sky.  Mrs.  Fraser,  of  Culbokie,  had  a  MS.  volume  of 
Ossian's  poems,  that  was  written  by  Peter  Mac  Donell,  chaplain  to 
Lord  Mac  Donell,  of  Glengary,  about  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  as 
well  as  others  which  her  son  carried  to  Canada.  It  is  said  .that  Dr. 
Watson,  author  of  the  Lives  of  Fletcher  and  Gordon,  discovered  at 
Rome  a  MS.  of  these  poems,  which  had  been  brought  away  after  the 
rebellion  in  1715.t  A  MS.  once  in  the  Scots'  college  at  Douay,  much 
of  it  written  before  1715,  by  a  Mr.  Farquharson,  contained  all  the 
pieces  given  by  Mac  Pherson,  besides  many  more.  Mr.  Farquharson 
left  another  similar  collection  at  Brae-Mar  before  he  went  to  Douay, 
which  was  unfortunately  destroyed,  but  he  thought  it  would  be  easy  to 
make  another  collection.  "  He  was  not  sensible  of  the  rapid,  the  in- 
credible, the  total  change  which  had  taken  place  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland."!  "  Thirty  or  forty  years  back,"  say  the  authors  of  the  Re- 
port on  the  Poems  of  Ossian,  in  1803,  "  the  number  of  persons  who 
could  recite  tales  and  poetry,  and  could  write  Gaelic,  was  very  much 
greater  than  at  the  present  time."  Since  1745  the  amusement  of  list- 
ening to  recitation  is  scarcely  known. 

It  was  usual  for  the  young  women  of  a  baile,  or  hamlet,  which  con- 
sisted of  from  four  to  twenty  families,  to  carry  their  work  to  the  houses 
of  each  other's  parents  alternately.  In  these  societies  oral  learning  was 
attained  without  interrupting  industry,  and  the  pleasure  of  instructing 
and  receiving  knowledge  was  mutual.  The  matron,  visited  on  one  eve- 
ning, perhaps  excelled  in  genealogy,  while  another  was  well  versed  in 
general  history;  one  may  have  been  an  adept  at  poetry,  and  another 
an  able  critic,  &c.  The  Highlander,  after  his  daily  occupations,  has- 
tened to  join  the  society  of  the  young  women,  where  he  met  his  belov- 
ed, or  had  the  pleasure  in  her  absence,  of  repeating  the  last  sonnet  he 
had  composed  in  her  praise,  for  which  he  either  received  applause  or 

*  The  Rev.  Angus  Mac  Niel,  of  South  Uist,  said  in  1763,  that  Clan  Rannald  told 
him  a  volume  was  carried  to  Ireland  by  some  worthless  person.  Ewan  Mac  Pherson 
attested  the  delivery  of  the  above  volume  to  the  translator,  which  appears  also  to  have 
been  lost.  t  Literary  Journal,  i.  p,  458. 

t  Letter  from  Bishop  Cameron  to  Sir  John  Sinclair  on  the  subject. 
50 


394 


POEMS  OF  OSSIAN. 


encountered  disapprobation.  With  us,  fools  will  publish  what  impartial 
criticism  may  condemn;  but  with  the  Highlanders  it  was  otherwise, 
"what  could  not  be  published  in  the  above  societies  could  not  be  pub- 
lished at  all:  they  were  to  them  what  the  press  is  to  us;  a  song  that  was 
Jearned  by  a  few  out  of  mere  compliment  to  its  author  was  soon  forgot- 
ten. It  may  be  readily  supposed  that  local  circumstances  sometimes 
gave  a  temporary  existence  to  very  indifferent  compositions,  but  their 
popularity  being  confined  to  the  districts  where  the  subjects  of  them 
were  best  known,  with  those  subjects  they  generally  expired.  I  have 
spoken  in  the  past  tense,"  continues  the  writer,  "because,  within  a  few 
years,  the  manners  of  my  countrymen  have  suffered  a  total  revolution, 
very  little  to  the  advantage  of  the  present  race  who  are  neither  so  hos- 
pitable, so  learned,  nor  so  pious  as  the  generation  they  have  succeed- 
ed."* 

What  has  been  a  very  great  means  to  preserve  the  Ossianic  poems  is 
this,  that  the  greatest  number  of  them  have  particular  tunes  to  which 
they  are  sung,  the  music  of  which  is  soft  and  simple.  Duan  Dearmot, 
an  elegy  on  the  death  of  a  celebrated  warrior  so  called,  is  held  in  much 
esteem  among  the  Campbells,  who  trace  their  descent  from  that  hero. 
In  Lord  Rea's  country  is  a  tribe  of  this  name,  and  the  following  anec- 
dote of  an  old  member  is  here  appropriate.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Pope 
having  got  this  veteran  to  sing  the  poem,  he  commenced  his  performance 
by  reverently  taking  off  his  bonnet;  but,  says  the  writer,  "  I  caused  him 
to  stop,  and  would  put  on  his  bonnet;  he  made  some  excuses;  however, 
as  soon  as  he  began,  he  again  took  off  his  bonnet. — I  rose  and  put  it  on — 
he  took  it  off — 1  put  it  on;  at  last,  as  he  was  like  to  swear  most  horribly, 
he  would  sing  no  more  unless  I  allowed  him  to  be  uncovered.  I  gave 
him  his  freedom,  and  so  he  sung  with  great  spirit.  I  then  asked  him  the 
reason;  he  told  me  it  was  out  of  regard  to  the  memory  of  that  hero.  I 
asked  him  if  he  thought  that  the  spirit  of  that  hero  was  present;  he  said 
not,  but  thought  it  well  became  them  who  were  descended  from  him  to 
honor  his  memory. "| 

Of  the  music  adapted  to  these  poems,  a  specimen  furnished  by  the 
Rev.  John  Cameron,  of  Halkirk,  in  Caithness,  from  the  recitation  of  a 
very  old  man  in  his  parish,  is  given  by  Sir  John  Sinclair,  in  his  excellent 
dissertation  prefixed  to  the  Highland  Society's  edition  of  Ossian.  One 
of  superior  merit  is  given  in  the  musical  part  of  this  work,  and  several 
others  of  undoubted  antiquity^re  noticed. 

That  Fingal  fousrht  and  Ossian  sung  there  can  be  no  rational  doubt. 
The  names  of  places  all  over  the  Highlands  testify  the  existence  of  such 
persons,  and  the  manners  described  in  the  poems  suit  no  other  period  in 
history  but  that  of  the  ancient  and  unmixed  Celts. +    When  General 

*  Notes  on  the  Superstitions  of  the  Highlanders,  by  Mr.  Donald  Mac  Pherson,  1824. 
t  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Nicholson,  of  Thurso,  1763. 

t  Mr.  Rosing,  the  Danish  consul,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  Sir  John  Sinclair,  finds 
Ossian's  recitals  corroborated  by  Suhne's  History  of  Denmark. 


OSSIANIC  POETRY  VINDICATED. 


395 


Wade,  in  the  operation  of  forming  the  military  roads,  had  to  remove 
Clachan  Ossian,  or  the  monumental  stone  of  tliis  revered  bard,  about 
four  score  indignant  Highlanders,  in  becoming  solemnity,  carried  off  his 
bones,  with  pipes  playing,  and  deposited  them  within  a  circle  of  large 
stones  on  the  summit  of  a  sequestered  rock,  in  the  wilds  of  western  Glen 
Amon,  where  they  are  not  likely  evermore  to  be  disturbed.  That  the 
Highlanders  are  disposed  to  receive  any  thing  alluding  to  those  remote 
times  as  productions  of  Ossian  is  false,  and  can  only  be  advanced  by 
those  who  know  nothing  of  their  poerical  judgment;  succeeding  bards 
followed  their  great  predecessor  as  a  model,  but  never  approached 
the  sublimity  of  ''the  voice  of  Cona."  Many  have  studied  his  works, 
and  a  most  successful  imitator  was  Ailen  Mac  Ruari.  A  modern  bard 
in  Glendochy,  in  Perthshire,  and  another  in  Glendovan,  Argyle,  after 
laborious  attempts  to  catch  the  poetic  fire  of  this  prince  of  Celtic  poets, 
gave  up  the  pursuit.*  The  nearest  approach  was  made  by  M'Intyre, 
whose  works  display  true  poetic  feeling.  The  Highlanders  can,  howev- 
er, detect  the  true  Ossianic  from  other  poetry,  by  its  peculiar  excellence, 
simplicity  of  construction,  and  grandeur  of  imagery.  There  were 
several  Ossians  in  the  profession  of  bardism,  who  flourished  in  times 
subsequent,  but  none  ever  rivalled  their  predecessor. f  Nor  do  the 
Highlanders  swallow  the  poetic  descriptions  as  strictly  natural.  They 
can  well  discriminate  between  hyperbole  and  plain  narration,  as  in  the 
instance  of  Civa  dona,  where  the  description  is  allowed  by  the  most 
enthusiastic  to  be  ideal.  In  matters  of  history.  Doctor  Mac  Pherson 
admits  that  the  bardic  accounts  are  not  altogether  to  be  depended  upon; 
but  it  is  a  fact  that  curious  discoveries  have  been  made  in  consequence 
of  songs.  Treasure  buried  for  centuries  has  been  recovered,  and  the 
poem  of  Cath  Gabhra,  commemorating  the  interment  of  Conan,  a  king, 
under  a  stone,  inscribed  in  Ogham  characters,  the  Irish  Academy  made 
search  and  found  it. 

It  has  been  thought  i?jipossible  for  a  language  to  remain  unchanged  for 
so  great  a  length  of  tii/ie,  and  this  objection  has  been  urged  with  much 
vehemence,  as  an  unar^werable  argument  against  the  antiquity  of  Gaelic 
poetry.  In  the  second  Chapter  of  this  work,  some  of  the  causes  affect- 
ing language  are  noticed.  By  these  causes,  that  of  the  Scotish  moun- 
taineers has  not  been  altered  in  any  great  degree  these  2000  years,  but 
Jhat  no  change  has  taken  place  would  be  a  rash  assertion.  From  the 
publication  of  the  original  poems  which  James  Mac  Pherson  first  trans- 
lated, it  is  manifest,  that  certain  changes  have  been  produced,  by  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  and  the  altered  state  of  society;  but  the 
number  of  words  now  obsolete  are  very  few,  and,  to  the  studious,  may 
be  easily  understood  from  etymological  solution.  A  Life  of  Saint  Pat- 
rick, written  in  verse,  in  the  sixth  century,  is  still  perfectly  intelligible 

*  Smith's  Gallic  Antiquities. 

t  From  Colgan's  Life  of  Saint  Patrick,  we  find  he  had  a  convert  called  Ossian,  which 
circumstance  has  led  to  some  confusion. 


396 


CELTIC  POETRY. 


to  an  Irishman,*  and  the  Ossianic  remains  are,  with  trifling  exceptions, 
still  understood  in  the  language  in  which  the  bard  composed  them. 

Finally,  if  the  poems  of  Ossian  are  an  imposture,  Mac  Pherson  is  not 
the  only  one  implicated.  Smith  and  others  have  been  equally  skilful  in 
the  deception,  and  a  whole  nation  have  been  the  abettors  of  an  imposi- 
tion. But  no  rational  being  can  now,  it  is  believed,  entertain  any  doubt 
that  these  poems  have  existed  in  Highland  tradition  through  successive 
centuries,  and  been  the  solace  of  the  aged,  and  the  means  of  virtuous 
excitement  to  the  young.  The  bard  of  Caledonia  "  is  one  of  the  most 
transcendent  geniuses  that  ever  adorned  the  history  of  poetry,  or  that 
ever  graced  the  annals  of  valor  and  glory— let  such  as  do  not  like  to 
name  him  Ossian,  call  him  Orpheus:  doubts  may  be  entertained  whether 
Fingal  was  his  father,  but  no  one  will  say  that  he  is  not  the  son  of 
Apollo."! 

"  Upon  the  construction  of  the  old  Celtic  poetry  we  want  much  infor- 
mation. "J  The  chief  aim  of  the  poet  was  to  compose  his  pieces  in  short, 
simple,  and  forcible  sentences  or  stanzas,  so  that  they  might  be  easily 
learned  and  retained  in  the  memory,  and  that  they  succeeded  in  their 
object  is  abundantly  proved.  The  language,  from  its  simplicity,  was 
admirably  calculated  to  assist  recollection,  and  the  ingenuity  of  the  poets 
added  infinitely  to  the  effect.  In  Mac  Pherson's  Dissertation  on  the  era 
of  Ossian,  are  these  remarks:  Each  verse  was  so  connected  with  those 
which  preceded  or  followed  it,  that  if  one  line  had  been  remembered  in 
a  stanza,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  forget  the  rest.  The  cadences 
followed  in  so  natural  a  gradation,  and  the  words  were  so  adapted  to  the 
common  turn  of  the  voice,  after  it  is  raised  to  a  certain  key,  that  it  was 
almost  impossible,  from  a  similarity  of  sound,  to  substitute  one  word  for 
another.  This  excellence  is  peculiar  to  the  Celtic  tongue,  and  perhaps 
is  to  be  met  with  in  no  other  language.  Nor  does  this  choice  of  words 
clog  the  sense  or  weaken  the  expression.  The  numerous  flections  of 
consonants,  and  variation  in  declension,  make  the  language  very  copi- 
ous." 

The  genius  of  the  people,  naturally  musical  and  poetical,  materially 
assisted  in  the  preservation  of  oral  compositions,  and  inclined  them  to 
afford  that  encouragement  to  the  order  of  bards  which  fostered  their  tal- 
ents, and  enabled  them  to  devote  the  years  of  probation  which  the  pro- 
fession required,  with  undivided  attention  to  its  duties.  The  length  of 
time  which  students  were  obliged  to  spend  in  qualifying  themselves  for 
the  dignified  station  of  bard,  demonstrates  the  importance  in  which  it 
was  held. 

Among  the  ancient  Irish,  the  Fileacht  was  a  mental  composition  for 
the  exercise  and  improvement  of  poesy,  which  took  place  at  stated  times. 
This  people  retained  their  esteem  for  the  bards,  while  they  preserved 
their  primitive  manners,  and  Spenser  ceased  to  wonder  at  their  attach- 

*  Dr.  Smith.  t  The  Abbe  Cesarotti's  Dissertation. 

I  Pinkerton's  Enquiry,  ii.  145. 


SYSTEMS  OF  VERSIFICATION. 


397 


ment  to  old  customs  when  he  understood  the  nature  of  their  poetry,  and 
witnessed  their  respect  for  the  reciters.  This  writer,  an  accomplished 
poet  himself,  says  the  native  compositions,  were  "  of  sweet  wit  and  good 
invention,  sprinkled  with  pretty  flowers  of  their  natural  device."  The 
importance  of  national  poetry,  nowhere  more  influential  than  among  the 
Celts,  is  acknowledged  by  those  who  have  most  deeply  studied  the  his- 
tory of  man.  "  Songs  are  more  operative  than  statutes,  and  it  matters 
little  who  are  the  legislators  of  a  country  compared  with  the  writers  of  its 
popular  ballads."  It  would  appear  from  Hume  and  Burnet,  that  the 
misfortunes  of  James  II.  were  chiefly  owing  to  the  effect  of  the  Irish 
song  or  ballad  called  Lilli  burlero. 

According  to  ^lian,  Homer's  poems  were  at  first  detached  pieces, 
called  Rhapsodies.  The  rhapsodists  of  Greece  bear  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  the  Celtic  bards.  The  name  is  derived  from  Qa6dog,  a  rod  or 
branch,  and  o>)drj,  a  song  or  poem,  because  the  person  always  held  a 
branch  of  laurel  while  reciting  the  poems.  The  order,  like  that  of  the 
bards,  having  began  to  abuse  the  liberty  of  their  profession,  the  term 
came  to  be  applied  contemptuously,  and  a  rhapsody  signified  a  vile 
performance,  the  meaning  which  it  still  retains,  although  it  was  orig- 
inally used  in  quite  another  sense.* 

The  first  efforts  of  the  muses  in  all  countries  are  melancholy  themes. 
Ossian  never  stoops  from  his  sublimity,  for  wit  or  levity  did  not  accord 
with  his  feelings.  The  Leudus  of  the  Celts  was  a  sort  of  ode,  and  the 
term  survives  in  the  Gaelic  Laoidh,  applied  to  a  hymn.  Carthon,  one 
of  the  Ossianic  poems,  is  called  in  the  original,  Duan  na'  n  laoi,  or  the 
poem  of  the  hymns,  probably  from  the  celebrated  address  to  the  sun, 
and  Fingal's  pathetic  "  song  of  mourning,"  which  it  contains. 

Dan  is  the  Gaelic  name  of  a  song.  The  bards  distinguished  those 
compositions  in  which  the  narration  is  often  interrupted  by  odes  and 
apostrophes,  by  the  name  of  Duan,  but  since  the  extinction  or  disuse  of 
the  order,  it  has  become  a  general  name  for  all  compositions  in  verse. 
The  Duans  always  finished  with  the  opening  words.  The  bards  were 
sometimes  styled  history  men,  or  tell-talers,  and  repeated  a  short  argu- 
ment before  commencing.  This  traditional  tale,  which  accompanied  a 
poem,  and  sometimes  has  survived  it,  is  called  Sgeulachd,  and,  consider- 
ing that  much  art  was  required  to  reduce  the  language  to  measure,  they 
may  be  supposed  to  have  preceded  the  poetical  version.  Of  the  various 
sorts  of  versification,  I  confess  myself  at  a  loss  to  form  a  complete  list, 
especially  of  those  in  ancient  use.  In  the  Irish  uiraiceacht  na  neagir,  or 
rules  for  poets,  there  are  upwards  of  one  hundred  different  kinds  de- 
scribed.! Doctor  Molloy  assures  us  that  the  construction  and  variety 
of  Irish  metre  is  the  most  difficult  he  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of.  In  its 
composition  these  things  are  required — number,  quartans,  number  of 

*  Larcher,  note  on  Herodotus. 

t  Walker's  Memoirs  of  the  Irish  Bards,  who  refers  to  Vallancey  and  O'Molloy  for 
specimens. 


398 


DESCRIPTIONS  OF  POETRY. 


syllables,  concords,  correspondence,  termination,  union,  and  caput,  the 
subdivisions  of  all  which  are  minute  and  perplexing.  The  rules  res- 
pecting the  division,  conjunction,  affinity,  mutability,  ellipses,  and  pow- 
er of  consonants,  were  to  be  understood,  and  the  long  and  short  quanti- 
ty of  vowels  in  the  beginning,  middle,  and  end. 

The  Welsh  system  is  described  as  comprehending  twenty-four  classes 
(.  f  verse  or  elementary  principles.  These,  with  their  subdivisions,  saj 
ti  e  authors  of  the  Myvyrian  ArchiEology,  "include  every  species  of 
V  rse  that  has  ever  yet,  in  any  age,  or  amongst  any  people,  been  pro- 
di.  ced,  besides  a  prodigious  number  of  originals,  entirely  and  exclusive- 
ly our  own,  all  which  had  been  discovered  and  brought  into  general 
prnctice  about  the  close  of  the  second  period,"  commencing  about  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  continuing  to  the  fourteenth. 
Those  who  are  interested  in  Cumraeg  poetry  and  literature  may  con- 
sult the  above  work,  which  contains  numerous  specimens,  unfortunately, 
by  not  having  a  translation,  sealed  up  from  all  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
language.  The  antiquaries  of  the  Principality,  who  account  for  the 
origin  of  almost  every  thing,  tell  us  that  Gwyddon  Ganhebon  was  the 
first  poet.  The  oldest  sort  of  rhyme  is  called,  in  Rhys's  Grammar,  En- 
glyn  Milur. 

We  find  the  pupil  of  a  learned  Scot  master  of  no  fewer  than  one 
hundred  different  kinds  of  verse,  with  the  musical  modulation  of  words 
and  syllables,  which  included  letters,  figures,  poetic  feet,  tones,  and 
time.* 

The  warlike  propensity  of  the  Celts  afforded  ample  scope  for  the 
employment  of  the  bards,  who  chanted  stimulating  poems  at  the  com- 
mencement and  during  the  heat  of  a  battle.  The  subject  of  those  songs, 
which  animated  the  Celtic  warrior,  was  chiefly  "the  valorous  deeds  of 
worthy  men  composed  in  heroic  verse."!  Tacitus  says,  that,  when  the 
Germans  advanced  to  battle,  they  extolled  Hercules  in  their  songs 
Among  the  Gael  these  spirit-stirring  odes  were  styled  Prosnachadh 
cath,  or  the  incentives  to  battle;  to  which  the  Irish  Rosga  cath,  martial 
odes,  and  the  Welsh  Arymes  prydain  and  Cerdd  valiant,  or  songs  of 
praise,  were  analogous. J  There  was  also  a  sort  that  may  be  called  the 
recruiting  song,  or  incentive  to  rise. 

The  sonoj  of  battle  "  had  an  astonishing  effect  on  the  Celtic  war 
riors,  and  its  power  of  animation  was  not  less  remarkable  among  the 
Scotish  Gael,  than  it  was  among  the  ancient  Gauls.     "  Support,"  cries 
Fingal,  "  the  yielding  fight  with  song,  for  song  enlivens  the  war." 

The  war  song  of  Gaul  Mac  Morn  is  given  in  this  work,  page 
116.  Those  compositions  were  in  a  short  measure,  and  were  repeated 
in  an  animated,  rapid  style;  and  so  well  adapted  were  the  verses  to  the 

*  Anglia  sacra,  ii.  p.  2 — 7.  Among  the  Northern  nations,  who  seem  to  have  despis- 
ed simple  versification,  there  were  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  different 
kinds  of  measure. — Olaus  Wormius.  t  Amra.  Marc.  xv.  9. 

+  The  Greek  orthia  and  paean  must  have  been  more  than  a  huzza.  A  war  song,  pro 
bably  resemb'L.,'ig  the  Prosnachadh,  appears  to  have  been  so  termed. 


DESCRIPTIONS  OF  POETRY. 


399 


subject  and  the  tune  in  which  they  were  chaunted,  which  was  again  ex- 
pressive of  the  feeling,  that  the  sound  partook  of  the  tone  of  whatever 
passion  the  poet  was  at  the  time  inspired  with.  Of  this  admirable  adap- 
tation of  language  to  the  expression  of  feehng  a  thousand  striking  in- 
stances might  be  produced.    The  following  may  suffice. 

The  hoarse  roaring  of  a  wave  against  a  rock. 
Stairirich  measg  cliarraige  cruaidh  a  garraich." 

"The  song  of  victory"  was  chanted  by  the  bards,  who  preceded 
the  army  on  its  return  from  a  successful  expedition. 

The  Cumhadh,  or  Lament,  otherwise  called  the  Coronach,  was  an 
elegy  composed  on  the  death  or  misfortunes  of  any  celebrated  individual. 
It  partook,  in  some  degree,  of  the  song  of  praise,  for  it  extolled  the  vir- 
tues of  the  individual;  and  in  pathetic  verse,  to  which  the  most  plaintive 
wild  notes  were  adapted,  the  bard  gave  vent  to  his  own  grief  and  excit- 
ed that  of  his  hearers.  These  compositions  were  anciently  repeated  at 
funerals,  but  they  have  given  way  to  the  music  of  the  bagpipe,  the  tune 
only  being  now  played  during  the  impressive  ceremony.  The  Irish 
caoine,  or  cine,  is  still  retained  in  secluded  parts  of  the  island,  and  is 
religiously  adhered  to  by  some  even  in  London.  The  wife,  or  other 
near  relations,  commonly  assisted  by  mercenary  mourners,  occasionally 
get  up  whilst  the  corpse  is  wakings  and,  in  an  extempore  effusion,  ac- 
companied with  tears  and  the  most  doleful  cries,  celebrate  the  merits  of 
the  deceased.  The  same  conduct  was  formerly  continued  while  the 
corpse  was  on  its  way  to  its  last  resting  place.  An  ancient  and  affect- 
ing lamentation  over  Cuchullin,  has  fortunately  been  preserved,  and 
shows  the  nature  of  this  sort  of  composition,  one  characteristic  of  which 
is,  that  every  stanza  closes  with  some  remarkable  title  of  the  person  to 
whom  it  refers. 

The  ancient  poems  were  repeated  at  entertainments,  and  in  those, 
where  a  dialogue  occurs,  the  characters  were  represented  by  different 
bards,  or  other  individuals.  In  the  poem  of  Carrie  thura,  the  parts  of 
Vinvela  and  Shilric  were  represented  by  Cronnan  and  Minona. 

Sir  John  Sinclair  sketches,  from  the  first  book  of  Fingal,  a  dramatic 
scene,  which,  he  believes,  was  acted  by  different  persons.  Clarke, 
who  refuted  the  attack  of  Shaw,  on  the  authenticity  of  the  poems,  de- 
clares that  he  went  with  Mac  Pherson  to  late  wakes  in  Badenoch,  where 
they  were  so  acted  or  represented.  "  The  Highlanders,  at  their  fes- 
tivals and  other  public  meetings,  acted  the  poems  of  Ossian.  Rude 
and  simple  as  their  manner  of  acting  was,  yet  any  brave  or  generous 
action,  any  injury  or  distress  exhibited  in  the  representation,  had  a  sur- 
prising effect  towards  raising  in  them  corresponding  passions  and  senti- 
ments."* 

When  the  Highlanders  met  to  watch  the  corpse  of  their  friends,  most 
part  of  the  night  was  spent  in  repeating  their  ancient  poems,  and  talking 
of  the  times  of  Fingal.    On  these  occasions  they  often  laid  wagers  who 

*  Rev.  Donald  Mac  Leod  writing  to  Dr.  Blair,  17G3. 


400 


DESCRIPTIONS  OF  VERSIFICATION. 


should  repeat  the  greatest  number  of  verses;  and  to  have  acquired  a 
great  store  of  this  oral  knowledge  was  reckoned  an  enviable  acquisition. 
Dr.  Mac  Leod  says,  he  knew  old  men  who  valued  themselves  much  for 
having  gained  some  of  these  wagers.  The  Prosnachadh  fairge,  already 
noticed,  contains  upwards  of  800  lines,  the  Lament  of  the  Women  of 
Mull  about  250,  and  Mac  Intyre's  Beindoran  is  about  1000  lines,  or 
nearly  as  long  as  any  of  Ossian's  compositions,  yet  the  people  learn 
every  word  of  these  long  poems.  Even  in  the  Low  Country  the  people 
delighted  in  lengthened  recitations,  as  witness  the  poem  on  Flodden 
Field,  on  the  battle  of  Harlaw,  62  verses,  the  battle  of  Glenlivat,  82, 
&c.  &c. 

Most  of  the  Highland  amusements  were  connected  with  poetry,  and 
some  of  those  diversions  in  which  they  took  greatest  delight  were,  in 
fact,  poetical  exercises.  The  obligation  laid  on  every  one  who  partook' 
of  the  Drom-uinn  to  recite  an  extempore  verse  has  been  noticed.  Dr. 
Johnson  describes  an  amusement  in  the  hall  of  a  laird,  where  a  person, 
dressed  in  the  skin  of  a  beast,  makes  his  appearance,  and  is  immediately 
attacked,  but  ultimately  the  assailants,  as  if  frightened  and  overpower- 
ed, run  out.  The  door  is  then  shut;  and  when  admission  is  solicited,  for 
the  honor  of  poetry,  it  is  not  to  be  obtained  but  by  repeating  a  verse; 
this  is  called  Beannachadh  Bhaird. 

A  curious  method  of  composition  was,  by  connecting  three  lines  or 
sentiments,  of  which  sort  are  the  famous  Welsh  Triads,  first  committed 
to  writing,  it  is  thought,  about  1200  years  ago.  Cormac,  king  of  Ire- 
land, about  260,  wrote  De  Triadibus,  and  Camden  mentions  a  Welsh 
work,  Triadum  Liber.  Some  of  the  Triads  of  the  celebrated  Fingal  are 
still  preserved  in  oral  record. 

In  Gaelic  poetry,  the  rhythm  sometimes  consists  in  the  similarity  of 
the  last  words  of  the  first  and  third,  and  second  and  fourth  lines,  as  in 
English  composition,  thus — 

Measg  aoibhneis  an  talla  nam  fear 
Mar  so  thog  cronan  am  fonn 
Dh'eirich  maduinn  a,  soills'  o'n  ear 
Bughorm  air  an  lear,  an  tonn. 

Carraig  Thura,  ver.  195. 

In  the  stanza  which  immediately  follows  this,  the  rhymes  are  in  the 
last  syllables,  but  the  final  consonants  are  not  alike,  the  harmony  de- 
pending on  the  concord  of  the  vowels. 

Ghairm  an  righ  a  shiuil  gu  crann ; 
Thanig  gaoth  a  nail  o'n  Chruaich : 
Dh'eirich  Innis-Thorc  gu  mall ; 
Is  Carraig  Thura  iul  nan  stuadh. 

Here  the  correspondence  is  in  the  a  in  the  first  and  third  lines,  and  in 

he  ua  in  the  second  and  fourth. 
Sometimes  the  conformity  between  the  last  word  of  a  line,  and  some 


DESCRIPTIONS  OF  VERSIFICATION. 


401 


word  or  part  of  a  word  about  the  middle  of  the  following  line,  constituted 
the  rhyme:  as, 

'  Suaigneach  m'  aigne  'n  uaimh  mo  bhroin ; 
'  Sinor  mo  leon  fo  laimh  na  h'aois. 
Ossag  'tlia  gastar  o  Thuath 
Na  dean  tuasaid  ruim  'smi  lag. 

Morduth. 

The  above  three  sorts  of  rhyme  are  often  found  in  one  composition, 
intermixed  with  couplets  rhyming  as  softly  and  perfectly  as  in  modern 
Italian;  for  example — 

Soilsichibh  Srad  air  Druim  feinne 

'Sthig  mo  laoich  o  ghruaigh  gach  beinne. 

Morduth. 

Some  of  the  most  beautiful  passages  in  old  Gaelic  poetry  are,  how- 
ever, a  sort  of  blank  verse,  having  no  rhyme.  It  appears  that  the  bards 
sought  in  this  case  no  more  than  to  render  every  line  perfect,  with- 
out any  dependance  on  the  next,  of  which  the  above  poem  affords  an 
example. 

Dhaluich  a  ghealach  a  ceann ; 
Bha  cadal  reultan  air  chul  neoil. 
Cabhag  ghaoth  is  cuan  o  chian  : 
Bu  gharbh  an  cath  bha  eadar  stuaidh 
Is  sileadh  gailbheach  nan  speur. 

The  Prosnachadh  cath  Gariach,  a  specimen  of  which  is  given  in 
page  117,  is  a  curious  example  of  ingenious  alliteration,  each  stanza 
being  composed  of  epithets,  the  initial  letter  of  which  is  always  the  same. 
The  ease  with  which  the  language  is  rendered  harmonious  is  the  cause 
that  there  are  so  few  bad  verses  in  Gaelic.  Many  of  the  sweetest  lyrics 
have  no  other  rhyme  than  the  frequent  sound  of  a  single  vowel  or  diph- 
thong running  throughout  the  stanza,  with  hardly  any  regularity  of 
situation. 

A  nighean  donn  na  buaile 

Gam  bheil  an  gluasad  farusda 

Gun  lug  mi  gaol  co  buan  duit 

  _       _  » 

'Snach  gluais  e  air  an  Earrach  sq 

Mheall  thu  mi  le  d'  shughradh, 

Le  d'  bhriodal  a's  le  d'  chuine 

Lub  thu  mi  mar  fliiuran 

'Scha  duchas  domh  bhi  fallain  uTith. 

In  singing  or  playing  these  compositions,  the  rhyming  vowels  are  ap- 
parent, and  prove  the  harmony  of  the  measure.  "The  Aged  Bard's 
Wish"  is  probably  older  than  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among  the 
Gael,  foi  he  displays  his  belief  in  the  ancient  Celtic  theology,  and  an- 
ticipates the  joys  that  await  him  in  the  elysium  of  the  bards — in  the  hall 
of  Ossian,  and  of  Daol.    It  shows  that  at  a  very  early  period,  harmony 

51 


402 


DESCRIPTIONS  OF  VERSIFICATION. 


of  numbers  was  sedulously  studied.  There  is  a  beautiful  poetical  trans- 
lation of  this  piece  by  Mrs.  Grant;  for  the  literal  version  of  the  stanzas 
quoted  I  am  indebted  to  the  author  of  Melodies  from  the  Gaelic. 

THE  AGED  BARD'S  WISH. 

Ocairibh  mi  ri  taobh  nan  allt 
A  shiubhias  niall  le  ceumaibh  ciuin. 
Fo  sgail  a  bharraich  leag  mo  cheahn 
'S  bith  thus  a  ghrian  ro  chairdeil  rium. 

Gu  socair  sin 's  an  flieur  mo  thaobh 
Air  bruaich  na'n  dithean  'snan  gaoth  tla, 
Mo  chos  ga  slioba  sa  bhraon  mhaoth, 
Se  luba  thairis  caoin  tren  bhlkr. 

Biodh  sobhrach  bhkn  is  ailli  snuadh 
M'an  cuairt  do  m'  thulaich,  'suain  fo  dhriuchd, 
'San  neonain  bheag 's  mo  lamh  air  chluain 
'San  ealbhuigh  mo  chluas  gu  cur.* 

Lyrical  compositions  are,  without  comparison,  the  most  numerous  in 
the  Highlands,  the  first-mentioned  measures  being  chiefly  confined  to 
those  called  Ossianic  and  other  ancient  poems.  Of  lyric  poems,  thou- 
sands might  be  collected,  some  of  considerable  antiquity,  and  many  of 
great  beauty,  and  the  measures  are  nearly  as  numerous  as  the  airs  to 
which  they  are  sung. 

There  is  an  ode,  the  stanzas  of  which  consist  of  two  lines  and  a  repe- 
tition of  the  last.  In  this,  the  word  upon  which  the  cesural  pause  falls, 
rhymes  with  the  final  word,  and  with  some  other  word  about  the  middle 
of  the  second  line;  thus 

Lochluinneach  threum  toiseach  bhur  sgeil 
Sliochd  solta  bhair  freamh  Mhanais 
Sliochd  solta,  bhair  freamh  Mhanais. 


*  O  lay  me  by  the  streams  that  glide, 
With  gentle  murmurs  soft  and  slow, 
Let  spreading  boughs  my  temples  hide ; 
Thou  sun,  thy  kindest  beams  bestow. 

And  be  a  bank  of  flowers  my  bed. 

My  feet  laved  by  a  wandering  rill : 

Ye  winds,  breathe  gently  round  my  head, 

Bear  balm  from  wood,  and  vale,  and  hill. 

Thou  primrose  pale,  with  modest  air, 
Thou  daisy  white,  of  grateful  hue, 
With  other  flowers,  as  sweet  and  fair, 
Around  me  smile  through  amber  dew. 


DESCRIPTIONS  OF  VERSIFICATION. 


403 


In  the  ode  of  three  lines,  with  the  stanza  twice  repeated,  the  ante- 
penults  of  the  first  and  second  lines  rhyme  with  a  syllable  at  the  middle 
of  the  third  line. 

Gam  biodh  faram  air  th^ilisg, 

Agus  fuiam  air  a  chlarsaich, 

Mar  a  bhuineadh  do  sliar  Mhac  Mhic  Leod* 

Gam  biodh,  &c. 

Gur  e  b'eachdraidh  na  dheigh  sin 

Greis  air  ursgeul  an  Feine 

'S  air  a  chuideachda  cheir-ghil  na'  n  crochd. 

Gur  e  b',  &c. 

The  ode  of  six  lines  of  four  syllables  and  a  seventh  of  six  syllables  has 
the  first  six  lines  rhyming  at  the  end,  and  with,  the  antepenult  of  the 
seventh 

Leansa  'sna  treig 
Cleachdadh  as  be  us 
Taitim  gu  leir, 
Macanta  seamh, 
Pailt.ri  luchd  theud 
Gaisgail  am  feim 
Neartmhor  an  deigh  toirachd, 

These  three  sorts  of  measures  are  by  the  celebrated  poetess  Mary 
Mac  Leod,  and  she  appears  to  have  invented  them,  for  I  do  not  think 
they  occur  in  the  works  of  any  other. 

There  are  stanzas  of  four  lines,  each  of  the  three  first  having  a  double 
rhyme,  and  the  rhyming  word  of  the  last  line  of  every  stanza  answers 
to  that  of  the  fourth  line  of  each  of  the  first  stanza,  as  seen  by  this, 
specimen.. 

Thuair  mi  sgeula  moch  dicedin 
Air  laimh  fheuma  bha  gu  creuchdach, 
'Sleor  a  gbeurad  ann  san  leumsa 
Anal  on  treud  bha  buaghar. 

O  Dhun  Garanach  ur  Allail 
Na'n  Irup  meara 's  na  'n  steud  seanga, 
Na'n  gleus  glana  s'ceutach  sealladh,, 
Beichdail  allaidh  uaibhreach. 


*  The  game  of  chess. 
And  the  music  of  the  harp, 
The  history  of  the  feats  of  tlie  Fingalians, 
With  the  relations  of  the  pleasures  of  the  chase, 
Were  what  the  good  son  of  Mac  Leod  loved. 


404 


BARDS. 


A  stanza  of  eight  lines  of  six  and  eight  syllables,  where  the  final  syl- 
lables of  the  second,  fourth,  sixth,  and  eighth  lines  rhyme,  is  common. 
In  another  also  of  eight  lines  of  seven  and  five  syllables,  the  last  words 
of  the  second,  fourth,  sixth,  and  eighth  lines  rhyme,  and  cesural  and 
penult,  and  cesural  and  final  rhymes  occur  irregularly  throughout  the 
other  lines. 

Si  so'n  aimsir  an  dearbhar 

Antaiganach  dhiunn; 

'S  bras  meinmnach  fir  Albin 

Fon  armaibh  air  thus ; 

'Nuair  dh  eireas  gach  reun«laoch 

Na'n  eididh  ghlan  ur 

Le  run  feirg  agus  gairge 

Gu  seirbhis  a  chruin.* 

That  Gaelic  poetry  may  be  regularly  scanned,  is  shown  by  Mr.  Arm- 
strong in  his  excellent  Dictionary. 

Gaelic  poetry  seems  to  have  had  its  classical  as  well  as  its  declining 
period.  There  are  many  ancient  poems  of  great  beauty  that  cannot 
have  been  composed  later  than  the  first,  second,  or  third  century  at  least, 
but  from  the  fall  of  the  Pictish  kingdom  until  the  thirteenth  century 
there  is  hardly  any  thing  to  be  found  of  historical  poetry.  Whatever 
destruction  may  have  been  occasioned  by  Edward  I.  to  the  other  his- 
torical documents,  he  could  never  carry  away  the  productions  of  Mac 
Alpin's  bard  and  succeeding  professors;  they  must  have  come  down  to 
our  times  like  those  of  Ossian  and  Ullin,  had  they  ever  existed  or  been 
at  all  worthy  of  preservation.  The  dark  age  of  poetry  and  learning  in 
the  Highlands  continued  nearly  500  years.| 

Some  Highlanders  have  heard  a  song  repeated  on  the  battle  of  Perth, 
1396,  which  bore  evidence  of  its  having  been  composed  about  the  period 
of  that  event.  Lachlan  mhor  Mac  Mhuirich  Albinnich,  bard  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Isles,  was  probably  born  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  He  composed  that  curious  Prosnachadh,  to  animate  the  troops 
at  the  battle  of  Gariach  in  141 1,  since  which  time  every  thing  memora- 
ble in  Highland  history  is  recorded  in  poetry. 

Mary  Mac  Leod,  better  known  by  the  appellation  of  Nighean  Alas- 
tair  Ruadh,  or  the  daughter  of  Red  Alexander,  was  born  about  1570. 
Many  of  her  compositions  are  of  great  beauty. 

Shelah  Mac  Donald,  of  the  house  of  Keppoch,  a  family  that  may  be 
termed  hereditary  poets,  who  lived  from  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  to  that 
of  George  I.,  wrote  many  patriotic  and  moral  odes  of  great  merit. 

Mr.  Alexander  Mac  Donald,  whose  admirable  Prosnachadh  Fairge 

*  John  Lom  Mac  Donald's  Address  and  Invitation  to  the  Clans,  in  1714,  to  take 
up  arms. 

t  Poetry  flourished  in  Wales  until  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  when  it  declined,  until  re- 
vived by  the  encouragement  of  late  institutions. — Myvyrian  Archeology. 


BARDS. 


405 


has  been  partially  translated,  in  a  previous  chapter,  was  an  excellent 
poet,  and  strongly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Ossian.  He  lived  from  the 
latter  end  of  the  sixteenth  until  after  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  was  a  good  scholar  and  musician.  His  first  song,  "  Ban- 
arach  Dhonn  a  Chruidh,"  is  still  very  popular,  and  the  air  to  which  it  is 
sung  made  so  strong  an  impression  on  Burns,  that  he  wrote  the  words 
of  "  the  Banks  of  the  Devon"  to  it.  Mac  Donald's  "  Praise  of  Morag" 
is  equally  popular,  and  appears  to  have  been  the  first  poem  adapted  to 
a  Piobrachd.  It  has  three  parts,  the  first  being  quick,  the  second 
quick,  quick,  and  the  third  quick,  quick,  quick,  and  is  the  same  measure 
as  that  in  which  Mac  Intyre  composed  his  celebrated  descriptive  poem 
of  "  Beinn  Dorain,"  and  Mac  Kenzie  that  of"  the  Ship." 

John  Lom  Mac  Donald  was  born  in  the  reign  of  James  the  First  of 
England,  and,  I  believe,  died  either  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  or 
that  of  her  successor,  at  a  very  great  age.  He  accompanied  Montrose 
'•u  all  his  wars,  being  named  poet  laureate  to  the  king,  and  contributed 
^0  the  support  of  the  royal  cause,  probably  as  much  by  his  songs  as  the 
marquis  did  by  his  sword.  He  celebrated  in  verse  the  notable  victory 
at  Kilsyth,  which  he  attributes  to  Montrose,  and  that  at  Inverlochy, 
which  he  thinks  was  achieved  by  Alexander  Mac  Donald,  commonly 
called  Mac  Coll,  or  Colcitach.  This  last  poem  he  composed  on  the  top 
of  the  Castle  of  Inverlochy,  to  which  he  had  retired  to  view  the  bat- 
tle; and  being  reproached  by  Montrose  for  not  taking  the  field,  he 
asked  the  hero,  who  would  have  commemorated  his  valor  had  the 
bard  been  in  the  fight?  He  laments,  in  pathetic  verse,  the  murder  of 
the  king  and  of  Montrose,  but  his  indignation  does  not  lead  him  to  abuse 
Cromwell.  He  sung  the  murder  of  the  children  of  Kepoch,  and  having 
obtained  a  commission  to  apprehend  the  murderers  dead  or  alive,  he 
ceased  not  to  pursue  his  object  until  he  carried  their  heads  to  the  lords 
of  council.  He  was  an  eccentric  character,  warm  and  ardent  in  his 
friendship,  bitter  and  unrelenting  in  his  hatred,  the  greatest  share  of 
which  fell  to  the  Campbells.  It  is  related,  that  dining  one  -day  with  the 
Earl  of  Argyle,  his  host  asked  him  why  he  kept  always  gnawing  at  his 
clan;  when  John,  presuming  on  the  bardic  privilege,  promptly  express- 
ed his  regret  that  he  could  not  swallow  them. 

From  the  time  of  John  Lom,  there  is  an  uninterrupted  succession  of 
good  poets.  Mr.  Mac  Pherson,  of  Strathmasie,  who  was  born  about 
1720,  and  died  in  the  latter  end  of  the  last  century,  was  a  gentleman 
and  a  scholar,  equal  to  the  best  Gaelic  bards  in  every  respect,  and  su- 
perior to  them  all  in  one  particular — humor.  His  poems  have  not  been 
published  in  a  collected  form,  and  some  of  them  have  never  been  com- 
mitted to  the  press,  but  a  good  many  of  them  are  to  be  met  with  in  the 
collections  of  Stewart,  Macfarlane  and  Turner.  Alastair  Mac  Aonai? 
composed  a  Prosnachadh  do  na  Gael  in  1745,  and  other  pieces. 

The  celebrated  John  Roy  Stewart,  who  was  both  a  good  soldier  at ; 
9,  good  poet,  must  not  be  forgotten.    In  a  poem  on  the  battle  of  CulJf 


40^ 


BARDS. 


den,  he  finds  an  opportunity  to  inveigh  against  Lord  George  Murray, 
whose  proceedings  during  the  progress  of  the  Rebellion  he  often  disap- 
proved of  He  directly  charges  his  Lordship  with  treachery.  His  La- 
ment for  Lady  Mac  Intosh,  who  may  be  called  his  sister  in  arms,  from 
having  joined  the  rising  in  1745,  is  pathetic  and  elegant. 

William  Ross,  Robert  Donn,  and  Duncan  Mac  Intyre,  possess  supe- 
rior excellence.  Ross  may  be  called  the  Gaelic  Anacreon,  Donn  the 
Juvenal,  while  Mac  Intyre  combines  the  descriptive  powers  of  Thomson 
with  the  versatile  genius  of  Burns.  The  works  of  Robert  Donn,  who 
was  a  native  of  Sutherland,  were  published  in  one  volume,  1829.  Mac 
Intyre  was  a  native  of  Glenurchy,  and  served  in  the  Argyle  Militia  at 
the  battle  of  Falkirk,  where  he  lost  his  sword,  which  was  a  favorite 
weapon  of  the  chieftain  of  the  Fletchers.  His  Apologetic  Poem  on  this 
misfortune  is  humorous,  and  shows  that  he  was  not  sorry  at  the  defeat 
of  the  royal  forces.  When  after  the  rebellion  in  1745,  the  wise  ministry 
of  George  II.  thought  the  Highlanders  could  be  made  loyal  by  being 
compelled  to  wear  a  foreign,  and  to  them  very  inconvenient  dress,  Mac 
Intyre  wrote  his  poem  of  "  the  gr^y  breeches,"  in  which  he  flatly  accuses 
parliament  and  the  ministry  of  injustice  in  imposing  such  a  garb  on  the 
loyal  as  well  as  disloyal  clans,  insinuating  that  it  would  make  the  next 
rising  more  general:  for  this  he  was  imprisoned.  His  poems  were 
published  in  1768,  and  that  on  Bein  Dorain  is  said  to  excel  every  thing 
of  the  kind. 

Dugald  Buchannan,  a  schoolmaster  at  Rannoch,  published  a  volume 
of  poems  in  1770;  and  Kenneth  Mac  Kenzie,  originally  a  sailor,  and 
afterwards  an  officer  in  the  army,  who  is  perhaps  still  alive,  published 
in  1796  a  volume  of  poems  of  some  merit.  John  Mac  Gregor,  of  Glen- 
lyon,  published  his  poetical  works  in  1801.  Those  of  Allan  Mac  Dou- 
gal,  the  bhnd  bard  of  the  late  Glengarry,  were  first  published  in  1800, 
and  their  popularity  is  attested  by  many  subsequent  editions.  This  man 
was  blind  from  his  infancy,  but  Apollo,  to  compensate  for  the  loss  of 
sight,  made  him  not  only  one  of  the  best  poets,  but  also  of  musicians. 

Among  the  modern  poets  of  Caledonia,  the  late  Mr.  Ewen  Mac  Lach- 
lan,  master  of  the  Grammar  School  of  Old  Aberdeen,  makes  a  conspicu- 
ous figure.  He  translated,  from  the  Greek,  the  third  book  of  Homer's 
Iliad,  and  various  excerpts  from  the  same  poet.  He  also  wrote  "  The 
Seasons"  in  four  songs,  and  a  variety  of  other  pieces;  but  what  is  re- 
markable is,  that  although  his  English  and  classical  writings  are  good, 
they  are  not  at  all  equal  to  his  Gaelic  poetry,  a  proof,  perhaps,  of  the 
superior  fitness  of  that  language  for  the  service  of  the  muses. 

Alexander  and  Donald  Stewart  published  a  large  collection  of  the 
works  of  the  bards  who  flourished  within  the  last  400  years,  and  Tur- 
ner, himself  an  aspirant  for  poetic  fame,  in  addition  to  his  first  work, 
obtained  a  numerous  subscription  for  a  collection  of  the  Gaelic  Jacobite 
songs,  translated  into  English. 

Music  is  either  the  mother  or  daughter  of  poetry.    It  is  probably  the 


MUSIC. 


407 


former.  The- manner  of  the  Gaelic  bards  seems  to  have  been  to  make 
the  tune  or  melody  first,  and  then  to  adapt  words  to  it.  The  original 
poem  was  often  lost,  but  the  air  if  a  good  one,  seldom  shared  the  same 
fate,  because  a  tune  is  easier  learned  than  a  song.  Many,  however, 
could  make  a  song  who  could  not  compose  a  tune,  and,  consequently, 
many  were  adapted  to  the  same  air.  The  poetry,  which  was  composed 
by  the  Celts  for  the  service  of  religion,  was  chanted  to  appropriate 
music,  and  to  the  sweet  melody  of  harps.  The  bards,  who  were  of  the 
Druidical  order,  sung  the  deeds  of  worthy  men,  celebrating  the  virtues 
of  the  good,  and  denouncing  the  vices  of  the  reprobate.  The  practice 
of  advancing  to  battle  with  songs  of  incitement  and  defiance  was  truly 
Celtic.  The  Gauls  attacked  Hannibal  at  the  Rhone,  crying  and  sing- 
ing after  their  custom.*  The  bards  conducted  the  music,  and,  by  differ- 
ent modulations  and  changes  in  the  air,  the  troops  were  led  to  advance 
or  retreat,  a  fierce  and  harsh  tone  of  defiance,  according  to  Tacitus, 
being  chiefly  studied,  with  an  unequal  murmur,  sometimes  produced  by 
applying  the  shields  to  the  mouth,  to  swell  the  notes.  To  Pythagoras, 
from  whom  the  Druids  did  not  much  differ,  if  he  did  not  form  his  opin- 
ions from  their  maxims,  the  world  is  said  to  be  indebted  for  the  discovery 
of  the  principles  of  music,  and  he  introduced  the  system  of  seven  planets 
from  the  seven  tones. "j"  The  ancients  esteemed  a  knowledge  of  music 
an  indispensable  accomplishment.  The  Arcadians,  a  people  resembling 
the  Scots'  Highlanders,  reckoned  it  infamous  to  be  ignorant  of  so  agree- 
able an  art.  The  youth  were  carefully  taught  to  sing  until  they  were 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  their  favorite  songs  were  in  celebration  of  the 
angels  of  birth,  the  gods  and  virtuous  men,  affording  in  this  a  remarka-' 
ble  resemblance  to  the  Celts.  Whether  the  melody  of  the  human  voice 
preceded  or  followed  instrumental  music,  it  was  much  cultivated  by  the 
primitive  Celts,  and  their  descendants  in  the  different  races  have  evinced 
a  strong  attachment  to  it.  It  is  probable  that  music  was  seldom  heard 
in  ancient  times,  without  being  accompanied  by  the  recitation  of  poetry, 
the  harper  being  also  a  vocal  performer.  The  song  of  the  Druids,  en-» 
graved  in  the  following  plates,  is  well  known  in  the  Highlands,  where  it 
is  revered  like  a  sacred  hymn.  The  chanting  of  the  Druidical  precepts 
in  times  of  paganism  was  imitated  by  the  early  Christians,  who,  were 
passionately  fond  of  music.  Adomnan  is  represented  as  having  taken 
much  dehght  in  hearing  Cronan,  a  famous  poet,  sing  his  native  melodies. 
The  clergy  did  not  confine  their  talents  to  the  voice,  and  it  was.  not  sur-^ 
prising  that  they  should  excel  in  performing  on  instruments  where  the 
qualification  was  so  common.  Bede  says,  that  at  entertainments  the 
harp  was  handed  from  one  to  another,  and  if  any  one  could  not  play,  he 
felt  so  ashamed  of  his  deficiency^  that  he  took  the  first  opportunity  to 
slink  off.J  The  bishops  continued  to  carry  this  instrument  along  with 
them  in  the  time  of  Cambrensis,  and,  indeed,  the  clergy  were  often  ex- 
cellent bards.    Donchadh  O'Daly,  Abbot  of  Boyle  in  1250,  excelled  all 


*Polybius,  iii.. 


t  Dion.  Cassius,  ap.  Beloe  on  Herodotus. 


t  Lib.  iv.  G.  $4. 


408 


LUINEAGS  OR  SONGS. 


the  bards  of  his  time.  The  members  of  the  Scots'  Church  brought 
sacred  music  to  great  perfection,  and  rendered  it  celebrated  throughout 
Europe  in  very  early  ages,  and  left  many  treatises  on  it.  When  Neville 
Abbey,  in  France,  was  founded,  the  queen  of  Pepin  sent  for  Scots' 
musicians  and  choristers  to  serve  in  it,  Mungret  Abbey,  near  Limer- 
ick, is  celebrated  by  monkish  writers  for  its  religious  melody,  having  no 
fewer  than  five  hundred,  who  served  continually  in  the  choir.*  Coradh, 
from  cor  or  cur,  music,  is  applied  to  a  proficient  in  the  art,  from  which 
Doctor  O'Conner  thinks  the  name  of  curetes  among  the  primaeval  Celts 
was  derived. 

The  ancient  Gael  were  fond  of  singing,  whether  in  a  sad  or  cheerful 
frame  of  mind.  Bacon  justly  remarks,  that  music  feedeth  that  disposi- 
tion which  it  findeth:  it  was  a  sure  sign  of  brewing  mischief  when  a 
Caledonian  warrior  was  heard  to  "  hum  his  surly  song."  This  race,  in 
all  their  labors,  used  appropriate  songs,  and  accompanied  their  harps 
with  their  voices.  At  harvest  the  reapers  kept  time  by  singing;  at  sea 
the  boatmen  did  the  same;  and  while  the  women  were  graddaning,  per- 
forming the  luaghadh,  or  at  other  rural  labor,  they  enlivened  their  work 
by  certain  airs  called  luineags.  When  milking,  they  sung  a  certain 
plaintive  melody,  to  which  the  animals  listened  with  calm  attention. 
The  attachment  which  the  nations  of  Celtic  origin  have  to  their  music  is 
strengthened  by  its  intimate  connexion  with  the  national  songs.  The 
influence  of  both  on  the  Scots'  character  is  confessedly  great — the  pic- 
tures of  heroism,  love,  and  happiness  exhibited  in  their  songs  are  indeli- 
bly impressed  on  the  memory,  and  elevate  the  mind  of  the  humblest 
peasant.  The  songs  united  with  their  appropriate  music  affect  the  sons 
of  Scotia,  particularly  when  far  distant  from  their  native  glens  and  ma- 
jestic mountains,  with  indescribable  feelings,  and  excite  a  spirit  of  the 
most  romantic  adventure.  In  this  respect  the  Swiss,  who  inhabit  a 
country  of  like  character,  and  who  resemble  the  Highlanders  in  many 
particulars,  experience  similar  emotions.  On  hearing  the  national  Ranz 
de  vache,  their  bowels  yearn  to  revisit  the  ever  dear  scenes  of  their 
youth.  So  powerfully  is  the  amor  patriae  awakened  by  this  celebrated 
air,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  prohibit  its  being  played  under  pain 
of  death  among  the  troops,  who  would  burst  into  tears  on  hearing  it, 
desert  their  colors,  and  even  die. 

No  songs  could  be  more  happily  constructed  for  singing  during  labor 
than  those  of  the  Highlanders,  every  person  being  able  to  join  in  them, 
sufficient  intervals  being  allowed  for  breathing  time.  In  a  certain  part 
of  the  song,  the  leader  stops  to  take  breath,  when  all  the  others  strike  in 
and  complete  the  air  with  a  chorus  of  words  and  syllables,  generally 
without  signification,  but  admirably  adapted  to  give  effect  to  the  time. 

*  Archdall's  Monasticon,  Hib.  The  English  Church  appears  to  have  been  a  con- 
trast. Prinn,  in  1G63,  compares  the  music  to  the  bleating  of  brute  beasts.  Histrio 
inastix.  See  Ledwich's  Observations  on  the  Gregorian  and  Ambrosian  chants,  in 
Walker's  Bards. 


NOTATION  OF  MUSIC. 


409 


In  singing  during  a  social  meeting,  the  company  reach  their  plaids  or 
handkerchiefs  from  one  to  another,  and  swaying  them  gently  in  their 
hands,  from  side  to  side,  take  part  in  the  chorus  as  above.  A  large 
company  thus  connected,  and  see-sawing  in  regular  time,  has  a  curious 
effect;  sometimes  the  bonnet  is  mutually  grasped  over  the  table.  The 
Low  Country  manner  is,  to  cross  arms  and  shake  each  other's  hands  to 
the  air  of  "  auld  lang  syne"  or  any  other  popular  and  commemorative 
melody.  Fhir  a  bhata,  or  the  boatmen,  the  music  of  which  is  annexed, 
is  sung  in  the  above  manner,  by  the  Highlanders  with  much  effect.  It 
is  the  song  of  a  girl  whose  lover  is  at  sea,  whose  safety  she  prays  for, 
and  whose  return  she  anxiously  expects.  The  greater  proportion  of 
Gaelic  songs,  whether  sung  in  the  person  of  males  or  females,  celebrate 
the  valor  and  heroism,  or  other  manly  qualifications,  of  the  clans. 

We  are  not  precisely  informed  of  the  method  by  which  the  bards 
taught  the  music.  In  the  college  of  choristers,  we  are  told,  it  was 
taught  in  the  drochaidh,  or  circle  of  melody.  Brompton  says,  those  of 
Ireland  were  instructed  in  secret,  their  lessons  being  committed  to  mem- 
ory; and  it  is  believed,  that  they  had  not  in  ancient  times  the  art  of 
communicating  their  melodies  by  notation,  circumstances  to  which  must, 
in  a  great  measure,  be  attributed  our  imperfect  knowledge  of  ancient 
Celtic  music.  Although  the  principle  which  led  the  Celts  to  teach  by 
memory  long  existed,  some  remains  of  musical  notation  are  yet  to  be 
found.  A  curious  specimen,  not  older,  however,  than  the  time  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  is  given  by  Walker.  An  air,  called  the  tune  of  David  the 
Prophet,  a  production  of  the  eleventh  century,  was  deciphered  from  an 
ancient  Welsh  MS.,  and  Mr.  Turner  mentions  another  MS.  of  British 
music  in  existence,  of  which  the  notation  cannot  now  be  explained;  be- 
ing disregarded  while  it  could  be  understood,  it  is  thus  lost  forever.* 
An  Irish  MS.  of  the  fifteenth  century  contains  the  native  musical  terms. 
Car  was  a  line  of  poetry,  marked,  and  the  characters;  annal  was  a 
breathing,  and  ceol  was  the  sound,  which  also  signified  me  middle  tone, 
or  pitch  of  the  voice.  Ard  ceol  was  a  third  higher,  and  has  ceol  was  a 
depression,  one-third  lower  than  the  pitch.  Circeol  denoted  the  turn- 
ing, or  modulation,  and  semitones  were  left  to  the  musician's  ear. 
There  were  three  names  for  harp  notes,  signifying  the  single,  the  great, 
and  the  little  harmony. 

Celtic  music,  like  the  poetry,  is  generally  of  a  grave  and  plaintive 
character,  although  cheerful  and  animating  airs  are  by  no  means  want- 
ing. "The  Welsh,  the  Scots,  and  the  Irish,  have  all  melodies  of  a 
simple  sort,  which,  as  they  are  connected  together  by  cognate  marks, 
evince  at  once  their  relationship  and  antiquity. "|  The  Manx  have  but 
a  few  national  airs  that  much  resemble  the  Irish.  The  Golltraidheacht 
of  the  Irish  was  the  martial  music. — This  sort  seems  adapted  to  the 
Prosnachadh  Cath  of  the  Gael,  which  is  in  a  short,  rapid,  spirit-stirring 
measure,  of  which  many  curious  specimens  might  be  given.    This  spe- 

*  Preface  to  his  History  of  the  Anglo  Saxons.  t  Caledonia,  i.  476. 

52 


410 


SCOTISH  MUSICAL  SCALE. 


cies  of  music  being  introduced  at  entertainments,  is  also  called  the 
festive.  The  Geantraidheacht  is  the  sorrowful,  of  which  sort  the 
Caledonians  are  very  fond.  The  Suantraidheacht  is  the  reposing,  or 
that  which  was  calculated  to  quiet  the  mind  and  dispose  the  person 
hearing  it  to  sleep.  We  perceive  in  the  works  of  the  old  bards  mel- 
odies for  war,  for  love,  and  for  sorrow,  but  in  later  times  we  shall 
find  other  classes  that  seem  to  have  emanated  from  the  pipers.  The 
song  of  peace  was  raised  in  the  field  of  battle  at  the  termination  of  a 
conflict,  and  the  song  of  victory  was  sung  by  the  bards  before  the  king 
after  the  gaining  of  a  battle.  In  the  poem  of  Cath  Loda  is  an  invoca- 
tion to  the  harp  of  Cona,  with  it§  three  voices,  to  come  "  with  that  which 
kindles  the  past."  Fingal  had  a  particular  tune  that  appears  to  have 
been  well  known;  it  is  called  "  that  song  which  he  hears  at  night  when 
the  dreams  of  his  rest  descend." 

The  love  songs  compose  the  chief  part  of  the  national  poetry  of  Ire- 
land and  Scotland.  Of  the  former  country,  it  has  been  said,  that  its 
poetry  seems  considered  as  designed  for  love  only,  an  opinion  for  which 
there  is  some  reason.  The  amatory  effusions  of  the  Scots'  bards  exhibit 
great  knowledge  of  the  human  heart  and  delicacy  of  sentiment,  with  a 
spirit  of  affection,  and  romantic  tenderness  and  devotion,  not  surpassed, 
if  equalled,  by  any  other  people  either  ancient  or  modern.  The  passion 
of  love  is  excited  by  the  sensibility  and  tenderness  of  the  music;  and, 
stimulated  by  its  influence,  the  Gael  indulge  a  spirit  of  the  most  roman- 
tic attachment  and  adventure  which  the  peasantry  of,  perhaps,  no  other 
country  exhibit. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Scots'  music  is  composed  on  a  peculiar  scale. 
Caledonia  has  indeed  to  boast  of  the  most  ancient  melodies,  and,  per- 
haps, the  only  national  melody  in  Europe;  the  Irish  rank  next  to  her; 
and  the  Welsh  must  be  permitted  to  follow  in  the  possession  of  their 
corresponding  styles. 

The  Scotish  scale  consists  of  six  notes,  having,  in  the  key  of  C,  e,  d, 
«j  ^>  c,  corresponding  to  the  black  keys  of  the  piano  forte;  a  scale, 
from  its  natural  simplicity,  singularly  well  adapted  for  the  composition 
of  an  air.  This  is  the  enharmonic  scale,  used  by  the  Egyptians,  and 
other  Eastern  nations,  and  similar  to  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks. 
Whether,  from  the  possession  of  this  system,  or  peculiar  organization, 
the  Celts  were  proverbially  musical;  and  the  music  of  the  Scotish  Low- 
landers,  which  they  think  their  own,  being  genuine  Gaelic,  they  prob- 
ably have  preserved  from  the  time  when  they  retained  the  same  language 
and  manners  as  their  brethren  in  the  mountains.  Those  who  believe 
that  Pictish  invasions  rendered  the  Eastern  Scots  a  Gothic  people,  and 
altered  their  language,  are  obliged  to  confess  that  the  music  underwent 
no  such  change.  The  diatonic  scale  used  hy  the  Gothic  nations  pro- 
duces melodies  of  a  character  completely  different  from  that  of  the  Celts. 

Cambrensis  contrasts  the  slow  modulation  in  Britain  with  the  rapid 
notes  of  the  Irish.    He  says  the  Welsh  did  not  sing  in  unison,  but  had 


SCOTISH  MUSICAL  SCALE. 


411 


as  many  parts  as  there  were  performers,  and  that  they  all  terminated  in 
B  flat;  the  treble  part  also  began  soft,  and  produced,  at  last,  a  wild 
melody;  and,  speaking  of  the  natives  of  Cumberland,  he  says,  they  sung 
in  parts,  in  unisons,  and  octaves. 

Although  the  Welsh  were  not  previously  ignorant  of  music,  it  is  relat- 
ed that  Gryffith  ap  Cynan,  or  Conan,  being  educated  in  Ireland,  brought 
its  music,  musicians,  and  instruments  to  his  own  country  about  1100, 
and  having  summoned  a  congress  of  the  harpers  of  both  countries  to 
revise  the  music,  the  twenty-four  canons  were  established.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  account  for  the  fact,  that  the  Welsh  music,  some  of  it  of  consid- 
erable antiquity  too,  differs  from  the  Gaelic  airs,  being  composed  in  the 
diatonic,  or  perfect  scale.  This  modern  style  predominates,  although 
not  to  the  exclusion  of  the  ancient,  but  the  circumstance  proves  that  the 
Welsh  have  materially  swerved  from  their  ancient  simplicity.  In  a 
small  deoree,  this  has  been  the  case  with  the  Irish  also,  but  that  which 
is  considered  their  proper  harp  music  is  of  the  Scotish  character.  Mu- 
sicians and  antiquaries  seem  to  have  found  a  bone  of  contention  in  the 
subject  of  these  airs,  some  maintaining,  that  in  the  Highlands  there  are 
no  harp  melodies,  while  others  assert  that  the  luineags,  or  singing  tunes, 
are  composed  for  the  harp  only,  and  are  unfit  for  the  pipes.  I  am  not 
a  sufficient  musician,  perhaps,  to  discuss  this  subject  with  due  ability, 
but  I  venture  to  say  that  both  opinions  are  erroneous.  Harp  music  is 
abundant  in  the  Highlands,  although  not  generally  of  the  refined  sort 
now  so  termed,  and  the  old  vocal  melodies  can  certainly,  with  only  a  few 
exceptions,  be  performed  on  the  pipe.  The  old  harpers,  who  performed 
airs  in  the  diatonic  scale,  appear  to  have  tuned  the  instruments  without 
knowing  on  what  principle. 

It  has  excited  the  wonder  of  some,  that  the  ancient  Scots'  airs  are 
usually  in  the  minor  mode;  some  are  not  in  it,  because  the  flat  series  is 
never  constituted  as  a  key  note  by  means  of  its  sharp  7th,  as  it  invaria- 
bly is  in  modern  music* 

The  most  ancient  vocal  tunes  had  only  one  measure,  and  by  attending 
to  this,  perhaps,  one  could  torm  a  tolerably  accurate  collection  of  genu- 
ine melodies,  for  it  is  my  opinion,  that  the  fiddlers  added  2nd,  3rd,  and 
sometimes  4th  parts  to  the  original  strain,  which  additions  may  be  detect- 
ed by  being  above  the  compass  of  the  pipe  chanter.  Thus  the  beautiful 
Strathspey,  for  instance,  called  Galium  Brogach,  given  as  a  specimen 
of  this  delightful  music,  is  admirably  adapted,  in  the  first  part,  for  the 
bagpipes.  From  this  practice,  however  highly  we  esteem  the  merits  of 
the  individuals,  we  must  regret  the  vitiation  of  some  of  our  ancient  pieces 
by  Gow,  Mac  Intosh,  and  others.  The  simple  harmonies,  as  given 
by  Clarke,  Fraser,  and  Mac  Donald,  are  preferable  to  those  put  forth 
in  characters  unsuitable  to  the  Celtic,  and  dressed  up  to  please  corrupt- 
ed tastes;  the  airs  are  altered  indeed,  but  they  can  scarcely  be  said  to 

*  Essay  on  the  Influence  of  Poetry  and  Music  upon  the  Highlanders,  in  the  Preface 
to  Mac  Donald's  Collection  of  Gaelic  Airs. 


412  SCOTISH  MUSIC— STRATHSPEYS  AND  REELS. 


be  improved,  and  the  collection  cannot  claim  to  be  one  of  genuine- 
Scots'  melodies,  or  aid  in  assisting  to  preserve  these  interesting  relics  in 
purity. 

There  is  another  remarkable  feature  in  the  Gaelic  school,  and  a  cri- 
terion by  which  to  judge  of  the  age  of  tunes  :  the  old  airs,  however  slow 
and  plaintive,  are  generally,  with  good  effect,  convertible  into  a  quick, 
or  dancing  measure,  and  vice  versa.  Of  this  conversion,  the  dancing 
airs  of  modern  times  do  not  admit,  at  least,  with  any  propriety. 

The  appogiaturas  in  modern  music,  are  usually  the  next  in  degree  to 
the  chief  note,  and  any  great  departure  from  this  rule  is  accounted  a 
barbarism.  In  Scots'  music  they  are  some  degrees  distant,  and  appear 
very  graceful.  This  is  most  remarkable  in  pipe  tunes,  to  which  instru- 
ment they  are  indispensable. 

There  are  certain  differences  very  perceptible  to  a  musical  ear,  in 
the  style  and  character  of  the  music  of  certain  districts.  The  Caithness 
and  Sutherland  people  are  noted  for  playing  in  quick  time,  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Strathspey,  or  rather  the  part  of  Scotland  in  which  that  valley  is 
situated,  are  celebrated  for  their  partiality  to  slow  time,  and  the  perfec- 
tion in  which  they  have  composed  and  play  the  airs,  which  are  known 
by  the  name  of  the  place  where  they  originated.  The  Strathspey  is  in 
simple  common  time,  and  it  has  been  described  as  being  to  the  common 
reel  what  a  Spanish  fandango  is  to  a  French  cotillion.*  Many  assert 
that  Strathspeys  are  so  essentially  different  from  reels,  that  they  can 
never  be  transposed;  to  me,  it  is  evident  that  Strathspeys  can  be  played 
in  reel  time  with  perfect  facility,  if  not  always  with  good  effect,  although 
I  shall  not  say  that  reels  can  be  made  Strathspeys.  The  people  of  this 
district  liked  their  music  of  a  slower  turn  than  others,  and  produced  that 
style  now  so  much  and  so  justly  admired. 

Of  the  first  composers  or  performers  of  Strathspeys,  there  appears  to 
be  no  certain  accounts.  According  to  tradition,  the  first  who  played 
them  were  the  Browns  of  Kincardine,  to  whom  several  of  the  ancient 
tunes  are  ascribed.  After  these,  the  Ciimmings  of  Freuchie,  now  Cas- 
tle Grant,  were  the  most  celebrated.  Of  these  musicians  there  were  a 
hereditary  succession,  the  last  of  whom,  John  Roy  Cumming,  who  was 
very  famous,  died  between  1750  and  1760.  His  descendants  in  London 
inherited  the  musical  genius  of  their  ancestors,  and  are  known  by  many 
ingenious  works  in  mechanics.* 

The  Reel  of  Tulloch,  given  as  a  specimen,  is  a  popular  tune  among 
pipers,  from  whom  it  receives  the  appellation  Righ  na  m  Porst,  or  king 
of  airs.  It  is  stated  by  Mac  Donald,  that  this  reel  was  composed  at 
Tulloch,  in  Aberdeenshire,  a  tradition  that  I  have  often  heard  repeated, 
detailing  the  particular  circumstances  connected  with  its  production; 
but  in  Mac  Gregor's  Collection  of  Poems,  where  the  song  is  given,  it  is 
confidently  asserted  to  be  the  composition  of  John  Dubh  Gear,,  a  Mac 
Gregor  of  Glenlyon. 


*  Newte. 


MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS. 


413 


Some  affect  to  discover  a  striking  difference  between  Scots  and  Irish 
jig  tunes.  I  confess  I  cannot  so  easily  perceive  it,  although  I  am  aware 
that  each  have  their  characteristic  style.  A  frequent  distinction,  though 
by  no  means  a  general  rule,  is,  that  the  first  is  most  frequently  in  6,  8 
time,  the  last  9,  8.  The  specimen  given  is  a  lively  Highland  air,  but 
if  sung  or  performed  slowly,  it  is  a  very  beautiful  melody. 

Of  the  Pastoral  Melodies  man^-  others  might  have  been  selected, 
perhaps  superior  to  the  one  given,  but  amid  so  great  a  variety  of  beauti- 
ful airs,  it  is  not  easy  to  fix  on  one  that  will  be  admired  by  all.  In 
looking  over  Fraser's  Collection,  I  hesitated  whether  I  should  substitute 
"  Nigean  doun  na  Gobhair,"  The  Maid  that  tends  the  Goats;  "  Bha- 
narach  dlioun  achruidh,"  The  Dairy  Maid;  or  others  of  the  same  char- 
acter. The  Lament  of  Ossian  may  not  be  received  by  the  skeptical  as 
the  production  of  that  bard,  but  it  must  be  allowed  to  be,  like  the  Druid's 
song,  a  fragment  of  merit,  which  bears  undoubted  marks  of  great  anti- 
quity. 

The  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS  of  the  ancient  Celts  were  simple;  that  of 
which  we  read  most  is  the  harp,  but  they  also  had  others.  When  the 
Gauls  sacked  Rome  they  had  trumpets  with  which  they  sounded  the 
charge,*  and  which  were  employed  to  assemble  their  council;  they  made 
a  most  horrid  noise,  and  were  at  times  blown  to  terrify  the  enemy.* 
The  horn  of  battle  was  used  by  the  old  Caledonians  to  call  the  army  to- 
gether, and  sounded  for  a  retreat;  "  The  horn  of  Fingal"  was,  proba- 
bly, his  attendant  trumpet.  The  Cornu  was  blown  by  the  Druids,  and 
their  Christian  successors  appear  to  have  retained  the  practice.  St. 
Patrick  is  represented  as  carrying  one.  The  wind  instruments  of  this 
sort  in  use  among  the  ancient  Irish,  were  the  Stuic,  a  brazen  tube,  used 
as  a  speaking  trumpet.  The  Corna,  in  its  rudest  form,  was  a  cow's 
horn,  and  was  sometimes  sufficiently  powerful  to  be  heard  at  a  distance 
of  six  miles.  The  Dudag  is  not  certainly  known,  but  is  believed  to 
have  been  a  semi-circular  horn.  Some  of  them  were  found  near  Ar- 
magh, and  are  engraved  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish  Society;"}* 
when  blown  they  are  said  to  have  made  a  tremendous  noise.  The  Buab- 
hal,  Beann,  and  Adharc,  are  not  precisely  known,  but  are  conjectured 
to  be  only  different  names  for  cornua.  O'Conner  says,  that  particular 
clans  had  horns  of  peculiar  tones,  and  Froissart  describes  the  Scots  at 
Otterburn  as  blowing  them  in  different  notes.  The  Irish  also  speak  of 
Gall  trompa,  the  stranger's  trumpet,  and  the  Blaosg,  or  concha  marina, 
resembling  the  buccinum  of  the  Latins.  The  Cibbual,  or  corabas,  was 
composed  of  several  small  plates  of  brass,  or  shingles  of  wood,  fastened 
with  a  thong,  being  held  in  one  hand  while  it  was  struck  with  the  palm 
of  the  other.  The  Corabasnas  consisted  of  two  circular  plates  of  brass, 
connected  by  a  twisted  wire,  which,  on  being  struck,  produced  a  jing- 
ling sound,  and  was  used  to  mark  time.  The  Corna'n,  or  crona'n,  was 
named  from  cor,  music,  and  anan,  base,  an  instrument  to  which  the 


Diodorus. 


t  Vol.  viii. 


414 


THE  HARP. 


lachdar  channus  was  similar.  The  readaa,  fideog,  or  lonloingean,  are 
supposed  to  have  been  a  sort  of  flutes.* 

The  HARP,  that  most  ancient  and  esteemed  of  stringed  instruments, 
was  a  favorite  of  the  Celtic  nations,  and  was  retained  in  the  British  Isl- 
ands when  it  had  become  almost  unknown  on  the  continent.  The  Hy- 
perboreans, who  are  believed  to  have  been  the  Aborigines  of  Britain, 
were  celebrated  performers  on  it,  ^companying  their  hymns  with  its 
music,  and  carrying  their  offerings  to  Delos  with  both  flutes  and  harps. 

The  Irish  have,  in  all  ages,  been  noted  for  their  excellence  in  harp 
music,  and  many  proofs  could  be  adduced  of  their  proficiency.  It  is  re- 
lated of  the  King  of  Munster,  so  early  as  489,  that  he  had  the  best  band 
of  harpers  of  any  in  his  time,  who  accompanied  their  musip  with  sing- 
ing;! but  the  most  flattering  testimonial  to  the  national  merit  is  paid  by 
Giraldus  Cambrensis,  who  resided  in  Ireland  for  some  time  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  twelfth  century.  His  eulogium  is  certainly  high,  and  its  jus- 
tice is  confirmed  by  his  countrymen,  who  acknowledge,  that  to  the  Irish 
they  owe  not  only  the  improvement  of  the  harp,  but  that  of  their  music 
also. J  Powell,  in  his  History  of  Cambria,  says,  that  in  1078,  "  Gryf- 
fith  ap  Cynan,  or  Conan,  brought  from  Ireland  cunning  mu&icians,  that 
devised  in  a  manner  all  the  instrumental  music  now  used,  as  appears  by 
the  names  of  the  tunes  and  measures."  That  their  harp  may  have  been 
improved  by  the  Irish  is  probable,  but  it  was  used  by  them  from  the 
remotest  ages.  The  harper  was  a  distinguished  member  of  the  royal 
household;  none  were  permitted  by  their  laws  to  play  on  this  instrument 
except  freemen;  and  it  was  reckoned  disgraceful  for  a  gentleman  not 
to  have  a  harp  and  be  able  to  play  on  it.  Buchannan  is  adduced  as 
testifying  that  the  harpers  in  Scotland  were  all  Irishmen,  but  as  the  pas- 
sage refers  to  a  king,  whose  existence  is  denied,  it  is  unfair  to  press  it 
into  the  service,  or  lay  any  weight  on  it.  Ireland  at  one  time  does  ap- 
pear to  have  obtained  a  superior  reputation  for  skill  in  harp  music;  but 
Giraldus  who  extols  them  so  highly,  says,  when  he  had  made  himself 
better  informed,  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  many  that  the  Scots  far  sur- 
passed the  Irish  in  musical  science,  and  that  Scotland  had  become  the 
resort  of  those  who  were  desirous  of  perfecting  themselves  in  it.  Al- 
though there  is  not,  I  believe,  at  present  in  the  Highlands  any  profes- 
sional harper,  and  although  it  had  been  so  long  disused,  that  it^  former 
existence  in  these  parts  was  doubted,  it  is  easily  proved,  from  other  au- 
thorities than  the  above,  to  have  been  common  to  the  Gael.  Buchan- 
nan speaks  of  their  delightful  playing  on  it;  and  Major  tells  us,  James 
I.,  who  died  in  1437,  excelled  all  the  Irish  and  Scots'  Highlanders,  who 
were  the  best  of  all  harpers.  In  short,  harpers  were  hereditary  attend- 
ants on  the  Scots'  kings  and  the  Highland  chiefs,  from  whom  they  had 
certain  lands  and  perquisites;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  a  hundred  names 
of  places  throughout  the  Highlands,  and  by  numerous  traditions. 

One  instance,  apparently  the  latest,  of  a  harper  attending  a  Highland 
*  Walker's  Irish  Bards;     t  Life  of  St*Kieran.     t  Caradoc,  ap.  Wynne,  Walker,  &Q 


THE  HARP. 


415 


army  occurs  in  the  case  of  that  sent  against  the  catholic  lords,  Errol, 
Huntly,  and  Angus,  in  1594,  on  which  occasion,  Argyle  carried  with 
him  his  harper  to  animate  his  troops,  unfortunately  without  effect.  The 
prophecy  of  a  witch,  whom  he  also  took  with  him,  that  it  should  be  play- 
ed at  the  Castle  of  Slanes,  the  Earl  of  Errol's  seat,  on  a  certain  day, 
may  have  been  literally  true,  for  it  could  have  been  there  sounded  at 
the  time  foretold,  but  the  Campbells  had  previously  suffered  a  total 
defeat. 

A  harp  key,  that  had  been  time  immemorial  m  the  family  of  Lord  Mac 
Donald,  and  that  bore  marks  of  antiquity,  being  ornamented  with  gold 
and  silver,  and  a  precious  stone,  making  its  value  eighty  or  one  hundred 
guineas,  was  presented  by  his  lordship  to  the  celebrated  O'Kane.  But 
the  harps  of  Lude,  that  have  been  preserved  so  long  by  the  Robertsons 
of  that  house,  are  now  in  possession  of  the  Highland  Society,  and  remain 
valuable  relics  in  themselves,  and  evidence  that  this  instrument  held  the 
same  place  in  Scotland  that  it  did  in  Wales  and  Ireland.  One  of  these 
harps  was  brought  from  Argyle  by  a  daughter  of  the  Laird  of  Lament, 
who  married  into  the  family  about  1460,  and  is  supposed  to  be  some  cen- 
turies older  than  that  time ;  the  other  was  presented  by  Queen  Mary, 
when  on  a  hunting  excursion,  to  Beatrix  Gardyn,  daughter  to  the  Laird 
of  Banchory,  near  Aberdeen,  who  was  married  to  Findla  Mhor,  an  an- 
cestor of  the  Farquharsons  of  Invercauld,  from  whom  both  families  are 
descended,*  and  such  a  present  shows  that  to  play  on  the  harp  was  at 
that  time  an  accomplishment  of  the  ladies  of  Scotland,  at  least  of  the 
Highlands,  for  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  the  Queen  would  have  bestowed 
this  instrument  on  one  who  did  not  understand  it. 

Mr.  Bowles,  the  ingenious  author  of  Hermes  Britannicus,  believes 
the  form  of  the  Celtic  harp  is  represented  in  the  figures  on  an  ancient 
monument  in  Egypt,  where  it  is  seen  exactly  to  resemble  that  of  the 
moderns. 

There  appears  to  have  been  four  sorts  of  harps  among  the  ancient 
Irish.  The  common  sort,  or  clarsach,  the  ceirnine,  a  smaller  sort,  the 
creamthine  cruit,  and  the  cionar  cruit.  The  harp  proper  was  called 
clar  or  clarsach  by  the  Scots  and  Irish,  and  was  sometimes  termed  sit- 
earn,  a  word  now  obsolete.  The  Welsh  call  the  harp  telin,  which  seems 
to  be  a  pronunciation  of  tend  luin,  an  appellation  borrowed  from  the 
Gael,  who  frequently  term  it  poetically,  tend  ciuil,  strings  of  melody. 

The  Cruit,  or  croith,  as  some  Irish  will  have  it,  is  often  confounded 
with  the  harp,  but  they  were  evidently  different;  "aw  bu  lionmhan  cruit 
is  clar,*^  there  were  many  a  cruit  and  harp,  says  an  old  poem.  The 
name,  which  is  Latinized  Crotta,  is  derived  by  etymologists  from  crith, 
a  shaking.  It  is  the  crwth  of  the  Welsh,  and  the  parent  of  the  violin, 
from  which,  in  old  English,  a  fiddler  was  denominated  a  crowther.  This 
instrument  was  once  much  esteemed  in  Scotland,  but  has  been  so  long 
disused  in  that  country,  that  the  Welsh  think  it  their  own.f 

*  Trans,  of  Highland  Soc.  iii.  p.  39.    Introd.  t  Evans. 


416 


THE  HARP. 


The  Creamthme  cruit  had  six  strings,  and  was  used  at  carousals;  the 
Cionar  cruit,  used  by  the  bards,  had  ten  strings,  and  was  played  by  a 
bow,  answering,  it  is  thought,  to  the  canora  cythara  of  the  Romans,  and 
the  modern  guitar. 

From  some  ancient  sculpture,  the  Gaelic  harp  appears  to  have  been 
of  the  same  form  as  it  is  still.  That  which  is  believed,  apparently  with 
truth,  to  have  belonged  to  Brian  Boroimh,  king  of  Ireland,  slain  in  1014, 
is  preserved  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  has  been  engraved  in  seve- 
ral works.  It  bears  an  exact  resemblance  to  the  clarsach  Lumanach, 
as  the  Lament's  harp  is  called,  and  that  of  Queen  Mary,  in  the  number 
of  strings  and  general  appearance,  being  only  one  inch  higher  than 
the  latter,  which  is  thirty-one  inches  in  extreme  height,  and  the  breadth 
of  the  lowest  part  of  the  sounding  board,  which  rises  towards  the 
middle,  while  that  of  the  other  is  flat,  is  only  eleven  inches  and  a 
half.  This  harp  has  twenty-eight  string  holes,  and  the  like  number  of 
pins  or  keys  to  which  the  strings  are  fixed.  The  holes  are  quite  plain, 
unlike  those  of  the  other,  which  have  brass  escutcheons  of  neat  work- 
manship fixed  in  the  sound  board.  In  front  of  the  upper  arm  were  the 
queen's  portrait,  and  the  arms  of  Scotland,  both  in  gold,  and  on  each 
side  was  placed  a  jewel,  surrounded  by  minute  inlaid  work,  as  repre- 
sented, but  of  those  valuables  it  was  despoiled  in  the  troubles  of  1745. 
Queen  Mary's  harp  is  altogether  a  more  neat  and  compact  instrument 
than  the  other,  being  little  more  than  half  its  weight.  The  Caledonian 
harp  has  thirty  strings,  and  has  this  peculiarity,  that  the  front  arm  is  not 
perpendicular  to  the  sounding  board,  but  is  turned  considerably  towards 
the  left,  to  afford  a  greater  opening  for  the  voice  of  the  performer,  and 
this  construction  shows  that  the  accompaniment  of  the  voice  was  a  chief 
province  of  the  harper.*  Giraldus  describes  the  harp  as  containing 
twenty-eight  strings,  but  they  were  afterwards  increased  to  thirty-three, 
and  Mysut,  a  Jesuit,  is  said  to  have  introduced  double  strings  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  old  Welsh  harp  is  said  to  have  had  nine  strings, 
and  that  of  the  Caledonians  only  four.  An  account  is  given  by  Martin 
of  a  man  who  travelled  about  as  a  harper,  with  an  instrument  contain- 
ing only  four  strings,  and  ornamented  with  two  hart's  horns  in  front.  It 
was  first  intended  to  string  the  above  two  harps  with  brass  wire,  accord- 
ing to  the  old  Scots'  and  Irish  manner,  but  as  it  would  have  been  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  bring  out  the  proper  sound,  for  one  to  allow  the  finger 
nails  to  grow  to  a  certain  length,  that  method  was  abandoned.  A  fine 
clear  tone  was  produced  by  the  finger  nails  from  the  wire,  and  it  is  relat- 
ed of  O'Kane,  the  Irish  harper,  who  frequented  the  Highlands  about 
thirty  years  ago,  that,  inheriting  a  bardic  spirit  of  arrogance,  he  was  often 
punished  by  being  turned  from  the  houses  of  his  patrons  with  his  nails 
cut.  The  strings  were  also  sometimes  struck  by  a  plectrum,  or  bit  of 
crooked  iron.  Both  Highlanders,  Irish,  and  Welsh,  held  their  harp  on 
the  left  side,  and  a  remarkable  peculiarity  in  the  construction  of  the 


*  Gunn's  Enquiry  respecting  the  Performance  of  tlie  Harp. 


THE  HARP. 


417 


Caledonian  one,  as  represented  by  Gunn,  is,  that  it  is  bent  to  accommo- 
date the  arm. 

Buchannan  describes  the  Scots'  harp  as  sometimes  strung  with  wire, 
and  sometimes  with  gut.  The  Welsh  now  use  strings  of  the  latter,  but 
formerly  they  appear  to  have  used  hair;  hence  Borde  speaks  of  his 
harp,  which  was 

"made  of  a  good  mare's  skyn, 
The  strynges  be  of  horse  hair,  it  maketh  a  good  dyn." 

There  is  this  distinction  made  by  the  Chronicle  of  1597,  that  the  clar- 
ishoe  (clarsach)  had  brass  wire,  and  the  harp  sinew  strings. 

The  Highlanders  took  great  pains  to  decorate  their  harps.  Buchan- 
nan said  their  only  ambition  seemed  to  be  to  deck  them  with  silver  and 
precious  stones ;  the  poor,  who  could  afford  nothing  better,  using  crys- 
tals and  brass. 

Roderick  Morrison,  usually  called  flory  Dall,  or  the  blind,  was  one 
of  the  last  native  harpers.  He  served  in  that  capacity  to  the  laird  of 
Mac  Leod,  but  on  the  death  of  his  master,  Dunvegan  castle  and  its 
establishment  being  abandoned,  he  began  an  itinerant  life.  About  1650, 
he  accompanied  the  Marquis  of  Huntly  on  a  visit  to  Robertson  of  Lude, 
on  which  occasion  he  composed  a  porst  or  air,  which,  with  other  pieces, 
are  yet  preserved,  called  Suipar,  chiurn  na  Leod,  or  Lude's  Supper. 
There  is  a  proverb  in  Gaelic,  referring  to  this  man,  implying  that  "one 
may  tire  of  the  best  tune  that  Roderick  ever  played." 

Mr.  Robertson  was  an  eminent  performer  himself;  and  Mac  Intosh, 
the  compiler  of  the  Gaelic  Proverbs,  relates  the  following  anecdote, 
which  he  received  from  his  father:  "  One  night,  my  father,  James  Mac 
Intosh,  said  to  Lude,  that  he  would  be  happy  to  hear  him  play  upon  the 
harp,  which,  at  that  time,  began  to  give  place  to  the  violin.  After  sup- 
per, Lude  and  he  retired  to  another  room,  in  which  there  were  a  couple 
of  harps,  one  of  which  belonged  to  Queen  Mary.  James,  says  Lude, 
here  are  two  harps;  the  largest  one  is  the  loudest,  but  the  small  one  is 
the  sweetest,  which  do  you  wish  to  hear  played.''  James  answered  the 
small  one,  which  Lude  took  up  and  played  upon  till  daylight." 

John  Garbh  Mac  Lean,  of  Coll,  who  lived  in  the  latter  end  of  the 
reign  of  King  James  VL,  and  first  of  Charles,  was  a  composer  of  music 
and  a  performer  on  the  harp.  Caoineadh  Rioghail,  the  Royal  Lament, 
and  Toum  Murran,  two  of  his  compositions,  are  yet  preserved.  This 
anecdote  has  been  handed  down  concerning  him:  the  captain  of  an  En- 
glish vessel,  which  had  been  wrecked  on  the  island,  went  to  the  Castle 
of  Coll,  where,  seeing  the  laird  sitting  with  a  bible  in  one  hand,  and  a 
harp  placed  by  his  side,  he  was  struck  by  the  venerable  appearance 
of  the  old  gentleman  and  his  occupation,  and  exclaimed  with  admiration, 
"  Is  this  King  David  restored  again  to  the  earth?" 

Murdoch  Macdonald,  who  was  brought  up  in  this  family,  was,  per- 
haps, the  last  harper.  He  studied  with  Rory  Dall,  in  Sky,  and  after- 
wards in  Ireland,  and  remained  with  Mac  Lean,  as  harper,  until  1734, 
53 


418 


THE  BAGPIPES. 


as  appears  from  an  account  of  payments  still  remaining,  soon  after  which 
he  appears  to  have  retired  to  Quinish,  in  Mull,  where  he  died.  He  ia 
still  spoken  of  as  Murdoch  Clarsair,  and  his  son  was  distinguished  as 
Eoin  Mac  Mhurchaidh  Clarsair.  The  Mac  Niels,  a  celebrated  race  of 
bards,  were  the  hereditary  harpers  of  the  Mac  Leans,  of-Dowart. 

When  Alexander  III.  met  Edward  I.  at  Westminster,  he  was  attend- 
ed by  harpers  and  nimstrels,  and  Elye,  the  chief  performer,  in  the  first 
class  received  more  than  either  the  trumpeter  or  minstrel. 

Harps  were  a  sort  of  heir  looms,  and  were  sometimes  very  old.  The 
Caledonian  harp  before  described,  carries  evidence  in  its  shattered  state, 
of  its  antiquity  and  ill  usage.  Mr.  Gunn,  in  his  "Enquiry,"  has  the 
following  passage  on  this  subject: — "  I  have  been  favored  with  a  copy 
of  an  ancient  Gaelic  poem,  together  with  the  music  to  which  it  is  still 
sung  in  the  Highlands,  in  which  the  poet  personifies  and  addresses  a  very 
old  harp,  by  asking  what  had  become  of  its  former  lustre.''  The  harp 
replies,  that  it  had  belonged  to  a  king  of  Ireland,  and  had  been  present 
at  many  a  royal  banquet;  that  it  had  afterwards  been  successively  in  the 
possession  of  Dargo,  son  of  the  Druid  of  Baal,  of  Gaul,  of  Fillan,  of 
Oscar,  of  O'Duine,  of  Diarmid,  of  a  physician,  of  a  bard,  and  lastly  of 
a  priest,  '  who,  in  a  secluded  corner,  was  meditating  on  a  white  book.'" 

The  PIPE  is  a  most  ancient  instrument  of  music.  It  was  well  known 
to  the  Trojans  and  Greeks,  among  whom  there  were  different  sorts  for 
Dorian,  Lydian,  and  Phrygian  measures;  but  the  addition  of  a  bag  and 
accompanying  drones  or  burdens,  must  have  been  an  invention  of  sub- 
sequent times.  Theocritus,  who  flourished  385  A.  C,  mentions  it  in 
his  Pastorals,  and  Procopius  describes  it  as  having  both  the  skin  and 
the  wood  extremely  fine.  Pronomus,  the  Theban,  is  said,  by  Pausan- 
ias,  to  have  been  the  first  that  played  the  different  measures  at  once  on 
one  pipe. 

There  is  at  Rome,  a  fine  Greek  sculpture,  in  basso  relievo,  represent- 
ing a  piper  playing  on  an  instrument  bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  the 
Highland  bagpipe.  The  Greeks,  unwilling  as  they  were  to  surrender 
to  others  the  merit  of  useful  inventions,  acknowledge,  that  to  the  barba- 
rians, i.  e.  the  Celts,  they  owed  much  of  their  music,  and  many  of  its 
instruments.  The  Romans,  who,  no  doubt,  borrowed  the  bagpipe  from 
the  Greeks,  used  it  as  a  martial  instrument  among  their  infantry.*  It  is 
represented  on  several  coins,  marbles,  &c. ;  but  from  rudeness  of  execu- 
tion, or  decay  of  the  materials,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  its  exact  form. 
On  the  reverse  of  a  coin  of  the  Emperor  Nero,  who  thought  himself  an 
admirable  performer  on  it,  and  who  publicly  displayed  his  abilities,  the 
bagpipe  is  represented.  An  ancient  figure,  supposed  to  be  playing  on 
it,  has  been  represented,  and  particularly  described  by  Signer  Macari, 
of  Cortona,  and  it  is  engraved  in  Walker's  History  of  the  Irish  Bards, 
but  it  does  not,  in  my  opinion,  appear  to  be  a  piper.    A  small  bronze 

*  Varro  calls  it  Pythaula,  a  word  of  Greek  derivation,  and  not  dissimilar  to  the  Cel- 
ti«  piob-mhala,  pronounced  piovala. 


THE  BAGPIPES. 


419 


figure,  found  at  Richborough,  in  Kent,  and  conjectured  to  have  been  an 
ornament  of  horse  furniture,  is  not  much  more  distinct.  Mr.  King,  who 
has  engraved  three  views  of  it,  and  others,  believe  it  to  represent  a  bag- 
piper, to  which  it  has  certainly  more  resemblance  than  to  a  person 
drinking  out  of  a  leathern  bottle." 

The  bagpipe,  of  a  rude  and  discordant  construction,  is  in  common  use 
throughout  the  East,  and  that  it  continues  the  popular  instrument  of  the 
Italian  peasant  is  well  known.  In  this  country  it  is  the  medium  through 
which  the  good  Catholics  show  their  devotion  to  the  Virgin  Mother,  who 
receives  their  adoration  in  the  lengthened  strains  of  the  sonorous  Piva. 
It  is  a  singular  but  faithful  tradition  of  the  church,  that  the  shepherds  who 
first  saw  the  infant  Jesus  in  the  barn,  expressed  their  gladness  by  play- 
ing on  their  bagpipes.  That  this  is  probable  and  natural  will  not  be  denied, 
but  the  illuminator  of  a  Dutch  missal,  in  the  library  of  King's  College, 
Old  Aberdeen,  surely  indulged  his  fancy  when  he  represented  one  of  the 
appearing  angels  likewise  playing  a  salute  on  this  curious  instrument. 
The  Italian  shepherds  religiously  adhere  to  the  laudable  practice  of  their 
ancestors,  and,  in  visiting  Rome  and  other  places  to  celebrate  the  ad- 
vent of  our  Saviour,  they  carry  the  pipes  along  with  them,  and  their 
favorite  tune  is  the  Sicilian  mariners,  often  sung  in  Protestant  churches. 

It  is  a  popular  opinion  that  the  Virgin  Mary  is  very  fond,  and  is  an 
excellent  judge  of  music.  I  received  this  information  on  Christmas 
morning,  when  I  was  looking  at  two  poor  Calabrian  pipers,  doing  their 
utmost  to  please  her  and  the  infant  in  her  arms.  They  played  for  a  full 
hour  to  one  of  her  images,  which  stands  at  the  corner  of  a  street.  All 
the  other  statues  of  the  Virgin,  which  are  placed  in  the  streets,  are 
serenaded  in  the  same  manner  every  Christmas  morning.  On  my  in- 
quiring into  the  meaning  of  that  ceremony,  I  was  told  the  above-men- 
tioned circumstance  of  her  character,  which,  though  you  have  always 
thought  highly  probable,  perhaps  you  never  before  knew  for  certain. 
My  informer  was  a  pilgrim,  who  stood  listening  with  great  devotion  to 
the  pipers.  He  told  me,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  Virgin's  taste  was 
too  refined  to  have  much  satisfaction  in  the  performance  of  these  poor 
Calabrians,  which  was  chiefly  intended  for  the  infant,  and  he  desired  me 
to  remark,  that  the  tunes  were  plain,  simple,  and  such  as  might  natu- 
rally be  supposed  agreeable  to  the  ear  of  a  child  of  his  time  of  life."* 

Some  writers  suppose  the  Highlanders  derived  the  bagpipe  from  the 
Romans,  while  others  think  it  was  received  from  the  Northern  nations. 
Giraldus  Cambrensis  does  not  appear  to  have  found  it  among  the  Scots, 
except  he  means  it  by  the  chorus,  an  instrument  of  the  Welsh  also. 
The  term  may  be  used  to  express  a  chord  of  pipes,  a  conjecture  that  is 
supported  by  the  inability  of  antiquaries  to  tell  us  what  else  it  can  be. 
The  chord  at  any  rate  is  not  mentioned  by  him  as  an  instrument  of 
the  Irish,  but  the  writers  of  that  country  think  the  bagpipe  was  known 
very  anciently.    The  Cuisley  ciuil  is  believed  to  have  been  a  simple 


*  Moore's  View  of  Society  and  Manners  in  Italy.   Letter  58. 


420 


THE  BAGPIPES. 


sort,  but  Walker  and  others  acknowledge  that  the  bagpipe  was  intro- 
duced from  Scotland. 

It  seems  impossible  to  trace  its  origin  among  the  Scots,  but  it  is  un- 
doubtedly of  great  antiquity.  Without  deducing  it  from  other  nations, 
we  may  reasonably  presume  that  in  a  country  to  which  it  has  been  so 
long  peculiar,  it  was  from  its  primitive  simplicity,  gradually  brought  to 
its  present  perfection:  that  the  chanter  was  an  improvement  of  the  sim- 
ple pastoral  reed,  to  which  the  drones,  a  happy  accompaniment,  were 
subsequently  added.  The  great  Highland  pipe  is,  perhaps,  the  only 
national  instrument  in  Europe;  every  other  may  be  found  common  to 
many  countries,  but  this  is  used  in  Scotland  alone.  "  In  halls  of  joy, 
and  in  scenes  of  mourning,  it  has  prevailed;  it  has  animated  her  warriors 
in  battle,  and  welcomed  them  back  after  their  toils,  to  the  homes  of  their 
love  and  the  hills  of  their  nativity.  Its  strains  were  the  first  sounded  on 
the  ears  of  infancy,  and  they  are  the  last  to  be  forgotten  in  the  wander- 
ings of  age.  Even  Highlanders  will  allow  that  it  is  not  the  gentlest 
of  instruments;  but  when  far  from  their  mountain  homes,  what  sounds, 
however  melodious,  could  thrill  round  their  heart  like  one  burst  of  their 
own  wild  native  pipe  ?  The  feelings  which  other  instruments  awaken, 
are  general  and  undefined,  because  they  talk  alike  to  Frenchmen,  Span- 
iards, Germans,  and  Highlanders,  for  they  are  common  to  all;  but  the 
bagpipe  is  sacred  to  Scotland,  and  speaks  a  language  which  Scotsmen 
only  feel.  It  talks  to  them  of  home  and  all  the  past,  and  brings  before 
them,  on  the  burning  shores  of  India,  the  wild  hills  and  oft  frequented 
streams  of  Caledonia,  the  friends  that  are  thinking  of  them,  and  the 
sweethearts  and  wives  that  are  weeping  for  them  there  !  and  need  it  be 
told  here,  to  how  many  fields  of  danger  and  victory  its  proud  strains  have 
led!  There  is  not  a  battle  that  is  honorable  to  Britain  in  which  its  war 
blast  has  not  sounded.  When  every  other  instrument  has  been  hushed 
by  the  confusion  and  carnage  of  the  scene,  it  has  been  borne  into  the 
thick  of  battle,  and,  far  in  the  advance,  its  bleednig  but  devoted  bearer, 
sinking  on  the  earth,  has  sounded  at  once  encouragement  to  his  country- 
men and  his  own  coronach."* 

How  many  anecdotes  might  be  given  of  the  effects  of  this  instrument 
on  the  hardy  sons  of  Caledonia?  In  the  war  in  India,  a  piper  in  Lord 
Mac  Leod's  regiment,  seeing  the  British  army  giving  way  before  supe- 
rior numbers,  played,  in  his  best  style,  the  well  known  Cogadh  na  Sith, 
which  filled  the  Highlanders  with  such  spirit,  that,  immediately  rallying, 
they  cut  through  their  enemies.  For  this  fortunate  circumstance.  Sir 
Eyre  Coote,  filled  with  admiration,  and  appreciating  the  value  of  such 
music,  presented  the  regiment  with  fifty  pounds,  to  buy  a  stand  of  pipes. 
At  the  battle  of  Quebec,  in  1760,  the  troops  were  retreating  in  disorder, 
and  the  general  complained  to  a  field  oflScer  in  Fraser's  regiment  of  the 
bad  conduct  of  his  corps,  Sir,"  said  the  officer,  with  a  degree  of 
warmth,  ''you  did  very  wrong  in  forbidding  the  pipers  to  play;  nothing 

*  Preface  to  Mac  Donald's  Ancient  Martial  Music  of  Caledonia. 


THE  BAGPIPES. 


421 


inspirnts  the  Highlanders  so  much,  even  now  they  would  be  of  some  use.** 
Let  them  blow  in  God's  name,  then,"  said  the  general;  and  the  order 
being  ^^iven,  the  pipers  with  alacrity  sounded  the  Cruinneachadh,  on 
which  tlAe  Gael  formed  in  the  rear,  and  bravely  returned  to  the  charge. 
George  Clark,  now  piper  to  the  Highland  Society  of  London,  was  piper 
to  the  71st  regiment  at  the  battle  of  Vimiera,  where  he  was  wounded  in 
the  leg  by  i\  musket  ball  as  he  boldly  advanced.  Finding  himself  disa- 
bled, he  sat  down  on  the  ground,  and,  putting  his  pipes  in  order,  called 
out,  "  Weel,  lads,  I  am  sorry  I  can  gae  nse  farther  wi  you,  bit  deel  hje 
my  saul  if  ye  sail  want  music;"  and  struck  up  a  favorite  warlike  air, 
with  the  utmost  unconcern  for  any  thing,  but  the  unspeakable  delight  of 
sending  his  comrades  to  battle  with  the  animating  sound  of  the  pio- 
brachd. 

It  is  a  popular  tradition,  that  the  enemy  anxiously  level  at  the  pipers, 
aware  of  the  power  of  their  music;  and  a  story  is  related  of  one,  who,  at 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  received  a  shot  in  the  bag  before  he  had  time  to 
make  a  fair  beginning,  which  so  roused  his  Highland  blood,  that,  dash- 
ing his  pipes  on  the  ground,  he  drew  his  broadsword,  and  wreaked  his 
vengeance  on  his  foes  with  the  fury  of  a  lion,  until  his  career  was  stop- 
ped by  death  from  numerous  wounds.  It  is  related  of  the  piper  major 
of  the  92nd,  on  the  same  occasion,  that,  placing  himself  on  an  eminence 
where  the  shot  was  flying  like  hail,  regardless  of  his  danger,  he  proudly 
sounded  the  battle  air  to  animate  his  noble  companions.  On  one  occa- 
sion, during  the  peninsular  war,  the  same  regiment  came  suddenly  on 
the  French  army,  and  the  intimation  of  their  approach  was  as  suddenly 
given  by  the  pipers  bursting  out  their  gathering.  The  effect  was  instan- 
taneous; the  enemy  fled,  and  the  Highlanders  pursued. 

The  use  of  the  bagpipe  in  war  is  very  ancient  among  the  Highlan- 
ders. Its  fitness  for  the  tumult  of  battle  must  have  given  it  an  early 
preference  over  the  harp,  and  led,  from  the  military  state  in  which  the 
Gael  were  so  long  placed,  to  the  disuse  of  the  latter.*  Robertson,  in 
his  Enquiry  into  the  Fine  Arts,  says,  that  pipe  music  is  the  voice  of  up- 
roar and  misrule,  and  that  the  airs  calculated  for  it  seem  to  be  those  of 
real  nature  and  of  rude  passion.  Its  correspondence  with  the  feelings 
may  have  increased  the  influence  of  pipe  music  over  the  Highlanders, 
but  their  partiality  does  not  depend  on  this;  for  although  its  use  in  in- 
spiring courage  in  battle  was  unparalleled  and  held  indispensable,  yet  it 
was  equally  in  request  for  the  exhilaration  of  wedding  and  other  parties, 
expressing  sorrow  on  occasion  of  death  or  misfortune,  and  amusing  the 
shepherd  in  the  solitude  of  his  avocations.  At  all  rural  occupations  in 
the  Highlands  it  has  been  observed  that  labor  is  accompanied  by  sing- 
ing. Where  music  can  be  had,  it  is  preferred.  A  piper  is  ofl;en  regu- 
larly engaged  in  harvest  to  animate  the  reapers,  and  he  generally  keeps 
behind  the  slowest  worker. 

*  The  Athenians  rejected  the  use  of  pipes,  as  they  were  not  only  a  hindrance  to  din- 
course  but  to  hearing.  Major  represents  the  Scots  at  Bannockburn  as  using  tubea, 
.itui,  and  cornua. 


PIPE  MUSIC. 

The  effect  is  not  confined  to  the  mountaineers,  for  the  inhabitai-nts  of 
the  Low  Country  are  equally  partial  to  it;  and  even  those  of  the  ^South- 
ern  parts  of  the  island  are  not  unmoved  by  the  tones  of  a  well-  played 
Highland  bagpipe.  When  the  Margrave  of  Anspach  W£is  on  visit  to 
Duff  House,  he  was  entertained  by  this  instrument,  and  on  being  asked 
how  he  liked  the  piobrachd,  he  confessed  the  effect  of  the  oold  rapid 
and  intricate  measures,  by  placing  his  hand  on  his  heart,  andi  intimating 
the  emotion  which  he  experienced. 

The  piobrachd,  as  its  name  implies,  is  properly  a  pipe  tune,  and  is 
usually  the  Cruinneachadh,  or  gathering  of  a  clan,  being^  a  long  piece 
of  music  composed  on  occasion  of  some  victory,  or  other  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance in  the  history  of  a  tribe,  which,  when  played,  is  a  warning  for 
the  troops  to  turn  out.  There  are,  however,  other  classes  of  this  sort 
of  music,  which  generally  pass  by  the  same  name,  bi  t  which  in  reality 
are,  or  ought  to  be,  used  for  particular  purposes.  Some  of  these  had 
their  origin  in  similar  events  to  the  cuairt  piobrachd,  or  regular  gather- 
ing, and  are  of  the  same  character,  but  are  properly  a  cumhadh,  coro- 
nach, or  lament,  and  a  failte,  salute,  or  welcome.  The  first  has  been 
composea  on  the  death  of  some  celebrated  chief,  and  is  played  at  the 
funeral  of  his  successors  and  others  of  the  clan,  and  the  second  has  been 
composed  on  the  birth  of  a  chief,  or  gentleman  of  a  clan,  his  baptism, 
arrival  at  age,  marriage,  or  other  happy  event,  and  was  played  on  like 
Occasions  to  his  successors,  and  when  the  chief,  or  colonel  of  a  clan, 
came  on  the  field  of  muster.  Although  their  characters  are  much  alike, 
with  the  exception  of  the  coronach,  which  is,  of  course,  particularly  slow, 
plaintive,  and  expressive,  little  or  no  attention  is  now  paid  to  the  distinc- 
tions, and  so  much  has  propriety  been  disregarded,  that  these  pieces  of 
music  are  frequently  called  "marches.'*  Now  the  pipers  may  and  do 
play  piobrachd  when  a  regiment  is  on  the  march,  but  it  is  not  adapted 
for  regularity,  because  the  time  varies  in  its  different  parts.  A  pio- 
brachd may  be  described  as  an  extended  piece  of  music  adapted  for  the 
bagpipe,  composed  in  celebration  of  a  battle  where  the  clan  was  success- 
ful, or  composed,  before  the  conflict  commenced,  to  excite  the  warriors 
to  heroism,  or  it  was  first  played  even  in  the  midst  of  a  battle,  from  a 
sort  of  inspiration  produced  by  enthusiasm;  which  pieces  of  music  be- 
come, in  particular  clans,  consecrated  to  all  succeeding  enterprizes  of 
war  and  occasions  of  festive  enjoyment,  when  it  is  desirable  to  enliven 
the  company  by  recalling  the  deeds  of  other  years.  But  although  clan 
gatherings  are  now  all  more  or  less  old,  pipers  continued  to  compose 
similar  music  until  recently.  Several  originated  in  the  year  1745,  as 
one  by  the  piper  of  Cluny,  who  composed  a  piobrachd  during  the  battle 
of  Falkirk,  which  is  yet  well  known;  and  later  instances  may  not  be 
wanting,  but  the  old  gatherings  retained  their  place,  which  they  certain- 
ly deserve,  from  the  true  expression  and  genuine  character  of  their 
music.  Indeed,  the  composition  of  salutes  and  other  piobrachds  is  now, 
perhaps,  oftener  attempted  than  success  can  warrant;  and  pipe  musi- 


! 

i 

I 
! 

ANECDOTES  OF  PIPERS.  425 

cians  would  acquire  greater  credit  by  paying  more  attention  to  the 
inimitable  works  of  their  ancestors  than  to  their  own  rhapsodies.  It  is 
alleged,  by  those  who  are  competent  to  form  a  correct  opinion,  that  the 
present  pipers  are  inferior  to  their  ancestors,  and  are  getting  worse. 
There  are  certainly  many  exceptions  to  this  assertion  where  a  musical 
ear  is  assisted  by  knowledge,  which  the  old  pipers  did  not  possess.  The 
lists  of  competitors  at  Edinburgh  show  numerous  names  of  clever  piperg; 
and  in  London,  Mr.  Mac  Kay,  piper  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke 
of  Sussex,  and  Mr.  Clark,  who  officiates  in  the  same  capacity,  to  the 
Highland  Society,  are  excellent;  but  we  must  regret  that  the  same  cause 
which  led  to  the  decay  of  oral  recitation,  impaired  our  modern  list  of  an- 
cient Gaelic  music;  for  the  former  celebrated  seminaries  being  no  more, 
.a  considerable  portion  of  pipe  music,  from  having  never  been  noted 
down,  is  already  lost.  In  less  than  twenty  years,"  says  Mac  Donald, 
in  his  excellent  Preface  to  his  Gaelic  Melodies,  "  it  wpuld  be  in  vain  to 
attempt  a  collection  of  Highland  music." 

The  piper,  who  was  hereditary,  held  an  important  place  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  chief  He  had  lands  for  his  support,  and  wag  of  superior 
rank  to  the  other  members  of  the  "tail,"  had  a  gilli,  or  servant,  who 
carried  his  pipes,  and  was  esteemed,  as  his  profession  entitled  him,  to 
the  appel'ation  of  a  gentleman.  He  accompanied  the  chief  wherever  he 
went,  and  vith  the  harper  had  a  right  to  appear  in  all  public  meetings. 
He  promenaded  in  front  of  the  castle  while  the  laird  was  dressing,  at  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning,  and  enlivened  the  meals  either  in  the  game 
way,  or  at  the  end  of  the  hall.* 

A  striking  proof  of  the  respect  paid  to  this  class,  resembling  the  ven- 
eration in  which  the  bards  were  held,  occurred  on  the  defeat  of  the  Mac 
Leeds  at  Inverury,  in  Aberdeenshire,  by  the  rebels  in  1745.  Mac 
Rimmon,  the  chief's  piper,  and  master  of  the  celebrated  college,  was, 
after  a  stout  resistance,  made  prisoner.  Next  morning  none  of  the 
pipers  in  the  victorious  army  played  through  the  town,  as  usual,  and 
being  asked  the  reason  of  this  extraordinary  Qonduct,  they  answered, 
that  while  Mac  Rimmon  was  in  captivity  their  instruments  would  not 
sound ;  and  it  was  only  upon  the  release  of  the  respected  prisoner  that 
the  musicians  returned  to  their  duty. 

Being  held  in  so  much  estimation  it  was  to  be  expected  that  they 
should  become  aware  of  their  own  importance,  and  be  tenacious  of  their 
konor  and  privileges.  Many  instances  might  be  recorded  of  their  nice 
feeling  upon  this  point. 

The  captain  of  one  of  the  companies  of  the  Black  Watch  had  receiv- 
ed orders  to  add  a  drum  to  his  bagpipe,  which  could  not  be  dispensed 

*  In  some  towns  a  practice  exists,  derived,  in  all  probability,  from  the  duties  of 
these  musicians.  In  Perth,  I  believe,  there  is  still  a  piper  who  plays  through  the 
streets  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  seven  at  night.  Tke  death  of  one  of  these 
performers  sometime  since  was  much  regretted  at  the  time,  the  music  having  an 
effect  in  the  morning  "  inexpressibly  soothing  and  delightful." — Memorabilia  of  Pertlr, 
p,  13.    In  Keith,  an  inland  town  of  Banffshire,  the  same  custom  is  retained. 


424 


ANECDOTES  OF  PIPERS. 


with,  as  the  Highlanders  could  not  be  made  to  march  without  it.  The 
drummer  was  accordingly  procured,  between  whom  and  the  original 
musician  a  bitter  contest  arose  about  the  post  of  honor.  The  contention 
at  last  grew  extremely  warm,  and  came  to  the  ears  of  the  captain,  who 
called  the  parties  before  him  to  adjust  their  difference,  and  decided  the 
matter  in  favor  of  the  drummer,  notwithstanding  the  warm  remonstrances 
and  forcible  reasoning  of  the  piper.  "  The  devil,  sir,"  says  he,  and 
shall  a  little  rascal  that  beats  upon  a  sheepskin  take  the  right  hand  of 
me,  who  am  a  musician?  " 

Perhaps  this  is  the  first  instance  of  a  drummer  being  placed  in  a 
Highland  regiment;  formerly  they  had  none,  and,  although  they  were 
used  in  1745,  the  pipers  outnumbered  them  beyond  comparison,  for, 
wherever  they  found  one  who  could  perform  on  this  instrument,  they 
compelled  him  to  follow  them,  and  Prince  Charles  is  said  to  have  been 
entertained  by  thirty-two,  who  marched  before  his  tent  during  meals. 
Some  of  the  unfortunate  pipers  who  were  taken  on  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion,  thought  they  could  effectually  plead  that,  being  only 
pipers,  they  had  not  carried  arms  against  his  Majesty,  but  it  was  decided 
that  their  pipe  was  an  instrument  of  war,  Mac  Donnel,  the  famous 
Irish  piper,  lived  in  great  style,  keeping  servants,  horses,  &c.  In  the 
"Recollections"  of  O'Keefe,  the  following  anecdote  is  given:  "One 
day  that  I  and  a  very  large  party  dined  with  Mr.  Thomas  Grant,  at  Cork, 
Mac  Donnel  was  sent  for,  to  play  for  the  company  during  dinner.  A 
table  and  chair  were  placed  for  him  on  the  landing  outside  the  room,  a 
bottle  of  claret  and  glass  on  the  table,  and  a  servant  waiting  behind  the  chair 
designed  for  him,  the  door  being  left  wide  open.  He  made  his  appear- 
ance, took  a  rapid  survey  of  the  preparation  for  him,  filled  his  glass, 
stepped  to  the  dancing  room  door,  looked  full  into  the  room,  said  '  Mr. 
Grant,  your  health,  and  company!  '  drank  it  off,  threw  half-a-crown  on 
his  little  table,  saying  to  the  servant,  '  there,  my  lad,  is  two  shillings  for 
my  bottle  of  wine,  and  sixpence  for  yolirself '  He  ran  out  of  the  house, 
mounted  his  hunter,  and  galloped  off,  followed  by  his  groom!  "  This 
was  a  remarkable  case;  all  pipers,  though  comfortable  enough,  had  not 
quite  so  much  of  the  good  things  of  this  life.  I  recollect  an  eccentric 
but  respectable  minstrel,  who  perambulated  Aberdeen,  Banff,  Moray, 
Kincardine,  and  adjoining  counties,  delighting  the  families  he  visited 
by  his  melodies,  and  gratifying  them  by  his  amusing  compositions,  for 
he  weed  the  muses.  Poor  Clark,  although  aware  of  his  abilities,  was 
not  so  independent  as  Mac  Donnel,  but  would  play  and  rhyme  con  amove 
to  his  friends  for  a  lee  lang  day,  and  good  humoredly  tell  his  entertain- 
ers, at  the  close  of  a  panegyric, 

"  T  maun  gang  hame,  the  nicht's  growin'  dark, 
Your  humble  servant,  Kennedy  Clark." 

Whilst  other  professions,  with  the  exception  of  the  bard,  might  be 
adopted  at  pleasure,  the  piper  was  obliged  to  serve  a  regular  appren- 
ticeship.   The  most  celebrated  seminary  for  instruction  was  kept  in  the 


COMPETITION  OF  PIPERS. 


425 


Isle  of  Sky  by  the  Mac  Rimmons,  hereditary  pipers  to  the  chiefs  of  Mac 
Leod.  They  held  certain  lands,  from  time  immemorial,  for  the  duty  of 
attending  the  chief  and  his  clan,  and  increased  their  income  by  pupils, 
who  spent  seven  years  in  perfecting  themselves  for  pipers,  and  the  mas- 
ters never  admitted  a  student,  it  is  said,  who  had  not  an  ear  for  music. 
In  the  Highlands,  however,  such  an  individual  was  not  likely  to  be  met 
with. 

The  Mac  Rimmons  have  long  since  ceased  to  play  for  their  chief,  or 
give  instructions  to  youth.  Captain  Mac  Rimmon  died  lately  in  Essex, 
at  an  advanced  age,  and  the  descendant  of  those  celebrated  pipers  is 
now,  I  believe,  a  respectable  farmer  in  Kent. 

The  Mac  Carters  were  the  hereditary  pipers  of  the  Mac  Donalds  of 
the  Isles,  and  a  descendant  was  long  established  in  Edinburgh  as  a  pro- 
fessor of  that  branch  of  music,  and  was  attended  by  several  scholars. 

There  was  a  branch  of  the  Mac  Gregors  established  in  Rannach  who 
were  celebrated  musicians,  and  afforded  instruction  to  the  chief  part  of 
the  pipers  of  the  central  Highlands,  as  those  of  the  house  of  Mac  Pher- 
son,  of  Cluny,  &c.  This  tribe,  from  their  extensive  knowledge  of  his- 
tory, were  termed  Clan  an  sgeulaich,  or  tellers  of  tales,  which  proves 
that  pipers  were  anciently  qualified  in  that  part  of  the  bardic  duties. 

The  care  of  the  Highland  Societies  of  London  and  Scotland,  to  en- 
courage the  preservation  and  perfection  of  pipe  music  by  periodical  com- 
petitions, and  the  award  of  various  prizes  of  considerable  value,  has 
done  much  to  revive  the  popularity  of  the  bagpipe.  The  interesting 
performances,  which  are  held  at  the  theatre,  are  numerously  attended, 
and  the  audience  are  transported  with  feelings  of  enthusiasm  when  the 
performers,  in  all  the  imposing  effect  of  costume  and  thrilling  war  notes, 
are  on  the  stage.  The  plan  is,  to  intersperse  dancing  with  the  music, 
and  may  be  thus  shortly  described.  The  exhibition  is  divided  into  acts, 
and  commences  with  a  salute  to  the  Society,  by  its  piper,  which  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  Highland  dance.  Then  three  or  more  of  the  competitors 
play  each  a  piobrachd,  when  another  dance  leads  to  the  performance  of 
two  or  three  piobrachds,  by  as  many  pipers.  The  second  act  is  also 
three  or  four  piobrachds,  a  dance,  two  or  three  piobrachds,  and  a  dance; 
and  the  third  act  is  similar,  the  only  difference  being  in  the  dancing, 
which  is  sometimes  Strathspey,  sometimes  Reel,  &c.  The  judges  then 
retire  to  determine  the  prizes,  which  are  also  given  for  dress,  during 
which  time  the  audience  are  entertained  by  a  salute.  The  prizes,  being 
determined,  are  delivered  by  the  president,  when  a  dance  forms  the  con- 
clusion. Ten  or  fifteen  other  Highlanders  usually  appear,  who  are 
rewarded  by  a  share  of  the  money  received  by  the  sale  of  tickets. 

Every  piper  must  give  a  list  of  not  fewer  than  twelve  piobrachds  which 
he  can  play,  from  which  the  committee  select  one.  At  the  competition 
in  1829,  there  appeared  twenty-five  pipers,  whose  twelve  tunes  would 
amount  to  three  hundred,  but  there  were  only  one  hundred  and  three 
different,  which  is  certainly  a  small  proportion,  but  perhaps  not  so  sur 
54 


426 


PTOBRACHD  DESCRIBED. 


prising  when  the  length  of  these  pieces  are  taken  into  consideration,  the 
few  that  have  ever  been  noted  in  musical  characters,  and  the  small  time 
that  can  now  be  devoted  to  th6  acquirement  of  music  taught  only  by 
the  ear. 

A  piobrachd  will  be  onderstood  by  those  to  whom  The  Battle  of 
Prague,"  and  similar  pieces  of  that  class  of  music,  are  familiar.  It 
opens  with  a  certain  measure  called  the  urlar,  subject,  or  groundwork 
of  the  piece,  and  by  variations  of  this  air,  sometimes  extending  to  great 
length,  the  piece  is  completed.  The  different  parts  are  meant  to  express 
the  various  feelings  according  with  the  transaction,  such  as  the  rising 
to  battle,  the  tumultuous  collision  of  the  combatants,  the  cries  of  the 
wounded,  and  wailing  of  their  relations;  and,  finally,  the  exultation  for 
victory,  or  lamentation  for  defeat.  After  each  part  is  gone  through,  the 
opening  strain  is  repeated,  and  invariably  concludes  the  piece.  This, 
which  is  observable  in  poetry,  is  allied  to  the  ''pugnavibus  ensibns," 
which  introduces  every  stanza  in  the  celebrated  song  of  Regner  Lod- 
brog,  and  would  seem  intended  to  recall  the  mind  to  a  certain  stage  in 
the  enterprise  «n  which  it  can  rest  with  unalloyed  satisfaction. 

This  sort  of  music  cannot,  however,  be  appreciated  by  many,  who 
erroneously  imagine  it  to  be  a  mere  voluntary,  played  as  the  taste  and 
fancy  of  the  performer  may  dictate.  The  late  Duke  of  Gordon  used  to 
relate  an  anecdote,  with  much  humor,  which  came  under  his  own  obser- 
vation. In  a  town,  in  the  north  of  England,  a  piper  played  a  piobrachd 
which  wonderfully  excited  the  attention  of  his  hearers,  who  seemed 
equally  astonished  at  its  length,  and  the  wildness  and  apparent  discon* 
nexion  of  the  parts.  Unable  to  understand  it,  yet  desirous  of  gratifying 
their  curiosity,  one  of  the  spectators,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  perform- 
ance, anxiously  intreated  the  piper  to  "  play  it  in  English." 

When  the  urlar,  which  most  generally  is  in  common  time,  is  played, 
the  siubhal,  or  variation,  first  succeeds,  of  which  there  is  most  usually  a 
doubling,  and  often  a  trebling,  the  time  quickening,  and  the  last,  being 
generally  termed  taorluidh,  or  fast  mpvement;  the  urlar,  like  a  chorus, 
is  then  repeated,  and  variation  second  commences.  I  shall  finish  the 
description  from  "  Cean  na  drochait  bige,"orthe  Clans'  Gathering,  a 
piobrachd  composed  at  the  battle  fought  by  Montrose  at  Inverlochy,  in 
1645.  The  second  variation  has  both  doubling  and  trebling,  after  which 
is  the  urlar,  and  then  the  third  variation,  with  its  doubling,  trebling,  and 
closing  strain.  The  fourth  variation  has  only  a  doubling,  and  the  repe- 
tition of  the  urlar  leads  to  the  crunluath,  or  round,  quick,  and  yielding 
movement,  which  has  its  doubling,  trebling,  and  quadrupling,  the  latter 
part,  in  i  time,  being  in  the  style  of  music  known  in  Gaelic  by  the  term 
cHathluath,  which  is  "  the  quickest  of  all  runnings,"  and  extends  through 
sixty-four  bars,  the  piece  closing  with  the  opening  strain  additional. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  in  explanation  of  the  musical  terms  applicable  to 
the  bagpipe,  that  the  taorluidh  is  |.  time;  the  crunluath  is  also  of  that 
time,  but  the  crunluath  fosgilt,  "  an  open  runnings"  and  crunluath 


PIOBRACHDS. 


427 


breabich,  "a  smart  and  starting  running,"  are  in  common  time,  while 
the  clialhluath  may  be  either  in  *,  ~,  or  |.* 

A  short  list  of  some  well  known  piobrachds  and  porsts,  or  airs,  with 
an  account  of  their  origin,  may  not  be  unacceptable. 

CRUINNEACHADH,   OR  GATHERINGS.| 

Of  Cogadh  na  sith,  "war  or  peace,"  the  history  appears  to  be  un- 
known, but  it  is  supposed  to  indicate  a  determination  either  to  obtain 
honorable  peace,  or  engage  in  immediate  war,  and  is  peculiar  to  no 
clan. 

Piobrachd  Mhic  Dhonuil  dhubh  was  the  war  tune  of  Black  Donald 
Balloch  of  the  Isles,  when  preparing  for  the  battle  of  Inverlochy,  in 
14*27,  and  Cean  na  drochait  mhoridh  was  composed  during  the  battle. 

Ruaig  Ghlinn  Bhruin  was  composed  on  the  rout  of  the  Colquhons, 
by  the  Mac  Gregors,  in  1602. 

Gill  Chriosde  was  played  by  Glengarry's  piper,  when,  in  revenge  of 
the  murder  of  Aonghas  a  Choile,  by  the  men  of  Culloden,  a  number 
who  had  taken  refuge  from  the  exasperated  Mac  Donalds  in  a  place  of 
worship  called  Cill  Chriosde,  or  Christ's  church,  were  burned. 

Craig  elachadh,  the  Grant's  Gathering,  a  fine  piobrachd,  derives  its 
name  from  their  war  cry,  or  place  of  rendezvous:  a  rock  near  Aviemore, 
in  Strathspey. 

Creag  dubh  is,  for  a  similar  reason,  the  gathering  of  the  clan  Chat- 
tan;  but  Cluny's  piper,  at  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  in  1745,  composed  a 
piobrachd  which  is  very  popular  among  the  clan. 

The  Cruinneachadh  Clan  Ranuil  excited  the  Mac  Donalds  of  Clan 
Ranald  to  the  rising  in  1715,  and  subsequent  battle  of  Dumblane,  or 
Sherrifmuir,  where  the  chief  was  slain. 

Bodaich  nam  briogas,  "the  fellows  with  the  breeches,"  commemo- 
rates a  battle  in  which  the  men  of  Braidalban  defeated  the  Sinclairs  of 
Caithness  at  Wick. 

Blar  Druim  Thalasgair  was  composed  on  the  battle  of  Waternish,  in 
the  Isle  of  Sky. 

Thogail  nam  bo,  "  We  come  through  drift  to  drive  the  prey,"  is  the 
Mac  Farlane  Gathering. 

Spaidseareachd,  and  Biorlin  tighearna  Cholla,  are  those  of  the  Mac 
Leans,  of  Coll;  and  Spaidseareachd  Siosalaich  Strathglais,  is  that  of 
Chisholm,  of  Strathglas. 

The  Forbes'  Gathering  is  now  known  by  the  local  words,  which  begin 
"  Ca'Glenernan,  gather  Glennochty,"  and  seems  the  air  which  has  been 
appropriated  to  the  *'  Locheil's  warning"  of  Campbell.  There  is  another 
tune,  called  Glenernan,  having  every  characteristic  of  a  piobrachd. 

*  Mac  Donald's  Martial  Music  of  Caledonia. 

t  Called  also  Porst  tiannal.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  we  are  never  likely  to  see  the 
historical  accounts  promised  by  Mr.  Mac  Donald,  his  son,  who  was  to  superintend  the 
work,  being  unfortunately  dead. 


4S8 


PIOBRACHDS. 


FAILTE,  OR  SALUTES. 

Failte  Phrionsa  was  composed  by  John  Mac  Intyre,  piper  to  Menzies, 
of  Menzies,  on  the  landing  of  King  James  in  1715.  There  was  also  a 
welcome  of  Prince  Charles  to  the  Isle  of  Sky,  and  a  Salute  on  his  land- 
ing at  Moidart  in  1745. 

Ghlas  mheur  is  an  ancient  piobrachd,  composed  by  Raonull  Mac 
Ailean  oig,  a  Mac  Donald  of  Morar,  to  which  there  is  a  wild  traditional 
account  attached. 

Moladh  Mari,  or  Mary's  Praise,  is  an  animated  piece  throughout. 
It  was  composed  by  the  Mac  Lachlan  family  piper,  and  is  the  clan 
salute. 

The  Mac  Donalds  of  Boisdale  have  a  salute  composed  when  Alastair 
More,  the  first  of  the  title,  took  possession  of  his  estate. 

The  Menzies,  the  Mac  Kenzies,  the  Mac  Donalds  of  Clan  Rannald, 
the  Mac  Gregors,  the  Mac  Kays,  the  Erasers,  &c.  &c.  have  also  their 
appropriate  salutes. 

An  Groatha  was  composed  on  the  baptism  of  Rory  More,  son  of  Mac 
Leod  of  Dunvegan,  and  another  salute  was  composed  at  the  birth  of  a 
son  of  the  same  family  in  1715. 

Leannan  Donald  Gruamaich,  "  Grim  Donald's  sweetheart,"  is  also 
a  salute  of  very  ancient  origin. 

CUMHADH,   OR  LAMENTS. 

Siubhal  Shemis  was  composed  on  the  departure  of  King  James  in 
1688.    There  is  also  a  lament  for  Prince  Charles. 

Cumhadh  mhic  a'  Arisaig,  or  Mac  Intosh's  Lament,  is  extremely 
plaintive  and  expressive. 

Mac  Leod  of  Mac  Leod,  had  not  only  a  peculiar  Cumhadh,  but  the 
family  piper  composed  one  which  is  still  very  popular,  on  his  own  situa- 
tion after  the  battle  of  Sherrifmuir,  where  he  was  left  on  the  field  strip- 
ped of  all  his  clothes.  The  unfortunate  bard  entitles  it  "  Too  long  in 
this  condition."  Pipers,  as  was  becoming,  were  honored  with  long  and 
very  affecting  funeral  dirges,  one  of  which  is  on  the  last  mentioned,  who 
was  designated  ''Great  Patrick."  There  is  a  "  Doleful  Lament"  on 
the  death  of  Samuel,  a  celebrated  piper,  and  another  very  beautiful  one 
for  John  Donn,  who  was  a  poet. 

Donald  Gruamach,  of  Slate,  laments  in  woful  and  protracted  strains 
the  loss  of  his  brother,  and  the  before-mentioned  Mac  Donald,  of  Morar, 
is  commemorated  in  a  well-known  plaintive  and  popular  coronach. 

The  Sister's  Lament  for  her  Brothers,  one  being  the  chief  of  the  house 
of  Keppoch,  who  were  barbarously  murdered,  and  whom  she  did  not  sur- 
vive many  hours,  may  be  supposed  of  a  very  melancholy  cast,  but  it  is 
not  long. 


PIOBRACHDS. 


429 


There  is  a  Lament  for  a  Duke  of  Hamilton,  and  another  for  one  Bri- 
an O'DufT,  and  Cumhadh  Chlaidheamh  is  the  aged  warrior's  regret  that 
he  was  no  longer  able  to  wield  his  sword.  This  last  of  only  two  parts, 
is  accounted  a  piobrachd,  and,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  some  pipers, 
I  believe  that  many  tunes  which  are  not  admitted  to  this  class  ought  to 
be  so  ranked.    Some  of  the  parts  may  be  lost. 

Fuair  mi  pog  o  laimh  an  Righ,  composed  on  having  had  the  honor  to 
kiss  hands  with  the  king,  is  presumed  to  be  a  salute;  but  can  Colda  mo 
run,  played  to  warn  the  piper's  master  from  the  danger  he  was  in  of  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  be  called  a  salute,  or  a  lament?  They 
are  piobrachds  of  great  length  and  considerable  merit. 

There  is  an  ancient  slow  air  of  one  measure  called  A  mhic  Iain  mhic 
Sheumis,  celebrating  a  battle  between  the  Mac  Donalds  an^  the  Mac 
Leods,  and  anoth^  composed  on  Blar  leinne,  or  the  shirt  battle,  fought 
at  Kinloch  Lochy,  between  the  Frasers  of  Lovat,  and  Mac  Donalds  of 
Clanrannald,  and  so  called  from  the  parties  having  stripped  to  their 
shirts.  There  is  a  fine  lament,  called  "  The  Chieftains,"  to  which  words 
are  sung  on  the  unfortunate  death  of  the  colonel  of  Glengarry's  regiment, 
who  fell  in  the  streets  of  Falkirk  after  the  victory,  by  the  accidental  dis- 
charge of  the  gun  of  one  of  Clan  Rannald's  men.  The  horrid  murder 
of  the  Keppoch  family  was  lamented,  besides  the  piobrachd,  in  a  slow 
and  pathetic  song  of  three  unequal  measures,  called  Keppach  na  fasich, 
or  "  Desolate." 

"  The  Spraith  of  the  Lowlands  now  graze  in  the  Glen"  must  have  been 
sung  with  joy  on  the  celebration  of  many  a  successful  descent,  and  ''the 
Fiery  cross"  was  admirably  expressive  of  the  effects  of  its  appearance. 

Of  Ossianic  music,  several  pieces  are  attributed  to  the  bard,  or  bear 
his  name,  and  have  been  sung  to  the  poems  and  native  songs  time  imme- 
morial. Dan  Ossian;  Ossian  an  deigh  nam  Fion;  Dan  Fraoich;  Tha 
Sgeul  beag  agam  air  Fion;  Dargo;  Bas  Dhiarmid  a  'Duine;  Maol  Don 
aidh;  Oscar's  Ghost;  Manus,  and  others,  may  be  enumerated;  many  of 
which  were  collected  between  1715  and  1745,  by  Mac  Donald,  Fraser, 
and  others. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  piobrachds  and  other  military  music  of 
the  Mac  Kenzies,  still  preserved  and  entered,  I  am  assured  in  the  or- 
derly book  of  the  72nd  regiment,  the  first  that  was  raised  from  the  clan: — 

Day  Break  ..  ..  ..  ..  Surachan. 

Cruinneachdh,  gathering,  or  turn  out  ..  Tulloch  Ard. 

Salute  when  the  Chief  comes  on  the  Field  ..  Failte  mhic  Coinnich. 

Slow  March        ..  ..  ..  ..  An  Cuilfhionn. 

Quick  March      ..  ..  ..  Caisteal  Donnan. 

The  Charge  ..  ..  ..  Caber  Feidh. 

While  Engaged  ..  ..  ..  Blar  Strom. 

Coronach  played  when  burying  the  Dead  ..  Cumhadh  mhic  Coinnich. 

Sunset  ..  ..  ..  ..  Siubhal  clann  Choinnich. 

Tattoo  ..  ..  ..  Ceann  drochait  Aelin. 

Warning  half  an  hour  before  Dinner  ..  Blar  ghlinn  Seille. 

When  Dinner  is  on  the  Table  ..  Cath  sleibh  an  t'  Shiora. 


430 


PldBRACHDS. 


It  is  remarkable  that  the  Gael  of  Ireland  have  no  music  of  the  descrip. 
tion  of  piobrachd.  That  singular  piece  called  Mac  Allisdrum's  Murch, 
which  has  latterly  been  connected  with  Cath  Eachroma,  or  the  battle  of 
Aghrim,  has  been  deemed  a  genuine  Irish  piobrachd;  but  the  intelligent 
Mr.  Croker,  in  his  "  Researches,"  has  shown  that  it  is  a  Scots*  compo- 
sition. Alexander  Mac  Donald,  or  Allisdrum,  commanded  a  party  of 
Highlanders  in  the  Irish  service  under  Lord  Taafe,  at  the  engagement 
with  the  Parliament  army,  near  Mallow,  13th  Nov.  1647,  where  they 
fought  manfully,  but  were  all  cut  to  pieces,  or,  as  some  say,  murdered 
in  cold  blood,  their  skulls  and  bones  being  yet  to  be  seen  piled  up  in  the 
ruins  of  a  neighboring  abbey.  This  composition  is  still  popular,  and 
may  be  partially  seen  in  the  works  of  Walker  and  Croker.  After  the 
urlar,  or  alf,  is  played,  the  four  provincial  cries  are  performed:  the  Gair 
Chonnachtach,  Gair  Muimhneach,  Gair  Olltach,  and  Gair  Laighneach; 
after  which  the  Gall  na  mna'  san  ar,  lamentations  of  the  women  while 
searching  the  field  for  their  husbands  and  relations,  succeed,  the  whole 
concluding  with  a  loud  shout,  as  supposed  from  the  auditors.  The 
Irish  certainly  used  our  national  instrument  in  war,  at  least  in  Derrick's 
time,  who  says  that  when  the  pipers  perceived  defeat  inevitable,  they 
sounded  a  retreat,  and  in  another  passage  we  find  that  "the  bagpipe 
then  insteade  of  tromp,  did  lull  the  backe  retreate."  The  Scots  had, 
however,  so  much  to  do  in  the  then  affairs  of  Ireland,  that  he  may  in 
this  case  be  speaking  of  them.  Other  airs  of  great  antiquity  and  beauty 
they  possess  in  sufficient  number,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Cumh 
leinn,  Ailein  a  ruin,  Gramachree  Molly,  &c.,  and  in  those  called  Speic, 
or  humors,  they  excel. 

The  Welsh  are  also  destitute  of  this  peculiar  style  of  music,  although 
they  have  military  airs  of  high  antiquity  and  interest: — the  '*  Monks' 
march,"  and  "  Come  to  battle,"  are  powerful.  Besides  warlike  melo- 
dies and  coronachs,  they  have  much  of  a  peculiar  cast,  and  their  Penyl- 
lion  singing  with  the  harp  seems  peculiarly  their  own.  The  Gorleg  yr 
Halen,  or  "  Prelude  of  the  salt,"  played  to  the  renowned  King  Arthur, 
is  yet  performed  in  the  Welsh  school,  Gray's-inn-lane-road. 

The  Scots  have  been  from  the  beginning  of  history  celebrated  for 
musical  genius,  and  of  that  sort  which  Geminiani  declared  could  not 
be  otherwise  found  on  this  side  the  Alps,  and  as  poetry  and  music  are 
inseparably  connected,  they  were  consequently  renowned  for  both.  The 
knowledge  which  the  bards  possessed  of  these  sister  arts  was  cultivated 
by  the  Christian  priests,  and  a  reference  to  Bale,  Leland,  Dempster, 
and  others,  will  show  the  very  great  numbers  of  those  who  excelled. 
The  whole  nation  was  in  fact  declared  to  be  musical,  and  the  Scots'  min- 
strels were  much  superior  to  English  writers,  there  being  not  one  poem 
which  can  with  certainty  be  ascribed  to  an  English  poet  previous  to  the 
time  of  Chaucer.  *  An  old  author  declares  with  much  naivete,  that  a 
great  many  of  both  sexes  in  the  Highlands  had  a  gift  of  poesy,  and  could 


*  Ellis's  Metrical  Romances,  i.  130. 


FACILITY  OF  COMPOSITION. 


431 


form  a  panegyric  oi  satire  extempore,  without  any  thing  stronger  than 
water  to  raise  their  fancies.  They  had  certainly  a  strong  propensity  to 
turn  every  thing  into  rliyme,  which  they  could  as  easily  adapt  to  music, 
as  has  been  before  shown:  many  tunes,  and  even  long  pieces  of  music 
having  been  composed  in  a  short  space  of  time,  and  under  unpropitious 
circumstances.  The  harpers  were  so  noted  for  this  facility,  that  it  pass- 
ed into  a  proverb: — where  would  be  the  melodies  the  harpers  could 
not  find?  "  A  piper  of  St.  Kilda  composed  a  tune  of  the  notes  of  a  bird 
called  the  Gawlin,  which  was  reckoned  a  very  fine  piece  of  music,  and 
we  have  the  swan's  mournful  ditty: — 

Luineag  na  h  Ealui' 
Gui  eug  i,  gui  eug  o, 
Sgeula'  mo  dhunach, 
Gui  eug  i 
Riun  mo  Here, 

Gui  eug  o,  &c. 

We  have  even  the  mermaid's  song,  and  perhaps  those  of  other  sirens 
have  been  composed,  with  the  fisherman's  song  for  attracting  seals,  &c. 
Music  has  at  times  produced  effects  on  the  Highlanders,  in  some  degree, 
like  the  lyre  of  Orpheus.  The  celebrated  Mac  Pherson,  who  has  been 
mentioned  in  the  first  part  of  this  work,  composed  his  "  Farewell,"  and 
played  it,  when  proceeding  to  the  place  of  execution;  and  some  other 
Highlanders  have  requested,  as  a  last  favor,  permission  to  play  their  pipes. 
When  old  Lovat  was  taken  by  Captain  Campbell,  of  Achacrosan,  it  is 
said  that,  unaffected  by  his  situation,  it  aflTorded  him  the  highest  delight 
to  hear  the  pipers  playing  his  family  march,  as  he  was  conveyed  across 
the  country.  The  bagpipes  seem  to  charm  even  the  brute  creation. 
Deer  will  be  arrested  by  their  sound,  and  stand  listening  with  evident 
pleasure;  and  cattle  that  are  otherwise  unmanageable,  will  be  rendered 
calm  by  a  spring  on  the  shepherd's  pipe.  The  story  of  the  piper  of 
Hamelin,  whose  instrument  had  such  power,  is  well  known;  on  one  oc- 
casion, he  charmed  an  immense  number  of  rats  into  a  river  where  they 
were  drowned,  but  not  receiving  the  stipulated  reward,  he  speedily  col- 
lected as  many  and  carried  them  to  the  same  place.  ♦ 

About  the  beginnmg  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Mac  Lean,  of  Coll,  had 
been  carried  off' by  Allan  Mac  Lean,  who  received  the  appellation  of  na 
sohp,  or  "of  the  wisp,"  in  allusion  to  his  burnings.  Coll  was  a  poet 
and  musician,  and  when  in  prison  he  composed  a  tune,  still,  I  believe, 
preserved,  under  the  name  of"  Allan  na  Sohp's  march,"  which  having 
sung  with  much  grace,  his  stern  enemy  was  so  moved  that  he  immedi- 
ately gave  him  his  liberty. 

The  following  "  Ode  to  Scotish  Music,"  by  a  poet  who  is  now  almost 
forgotten,  but  whose  merit  deserves  commemoration,*  displays,  in  beau- 
tiful lines,  the  effect  of  the  national  melodies: — 


*  Mac  Donald,  better  known  as  Matthew  Bramble,  the  author  of  Vimonda,  &e. 


432 


ODE  TO    SCOTISH  MUSIC. 


"  What  words,  my  Laura,  can  express 
That  power  unknown,  that  magic  spell 
Thy  lovely  native  airs  possess, 
When  warbled  from  thy  lips  so  well, 
Such  nameless  feelings  to  impart, 
As  melt  in  bliss  the  raptured  heart. 

No  stroke  of  art  their  texture  bears, 
No  cadence  wrought  with  learned  skill  j 
And  though  long  worn  by  rolling  years, 
Yet,  unimpaired,  they  please  us  still ; 
While  thousand  strains  of  mystic  lore 
Have  perished,  and  are  heard  no  more. 

Wild,  as  the  desert  stream  they  flow, 
Wandering  along  its  mazy  bed  ; 
Now,  scarcely  moving,  deep  and  slow, 
Now,  in  a  swifter  current  led  ; 
And  now  along  the  level  lawn, 
'  With  charming  murmurs,  softly  drawn. 

Ah  !  what  enchanting  scenes  arise, 

Still  as  thou  breath'st  the  heart-felt  strain ! 

How  swift  exulting  fancy  flies 

O'er  all  the  varied  Sylvan  reign  ! 

And  how  thy  voice,  blest  maid,  can  move 

The  rapture  and  the  wo  of  love  ! 

There,  on  a  bank  by  Flora  drest, 
Where  flocks  disport  beneath  the  shade. 
By  Tweed's  soft  murmurs  lulled  to  rest, 
A  lovely  nymph  asleep  is  laid  ; 
Her  shepherd,  trembling,  all  in  bliss. 
Steals,  unobserved,  a  balmy  kiss  ! 

Here,  by  the  banks  and  groves  so  green. 
Where  Yarrow's  waters  warbling  roll, 
The  love-sick  swain,  unheard,  unseen. 
Pours  to  the  stream  his  secret  soul ; 
Sings  his  bright  charmer,  and,  by  turns, 
Despairs,  and  hopes,  and  fears,  and  burns. 

There,  night  her  silent  sable  wears, 
And  gloom  invests  the  vaulted  skies. 
No  star  amid  the  void  appears. 
Yet  see  fair  Nelly  blushing  rise  ; 
And,  lightly  stepping,  move  unseen 
To  let  her  panting  lover  in. 

But  far  removed  on  happier  plains, 
With  harps  to  love  forever  strung, 
Methinks  I  see  the  favored  swains 
Who  first  those  deathless  measures  sung ; 
For,  sure,  I  ween  no  courtly  wight 
Those  deathless  measures  could  indite. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BAGPIPE. 


No  !  from  the  pastoral  cot  and  shade 
Thy  favorite  airs,  my  Laura,  came, 
•By  some  obscure  Corelli  made, 
Or  Handel,  never  known  to  fame  ! 
And  hence  their  notes,  from  Nature  warm, 
Like  Nature's  self,  must  ever  charm. 

Ye  spirits  of  fire,  forever  gone, 
Soft  as  your  strains,  O  be  your  sleep  ! 
And,  if  your  sacred  graves  were  known. 
We  there  should  hallowed  vigils  keep. 
Where,  Laura,  thou  shouldst  raise  the  lay, 
And  bear  our  souls  to  heaven  away ! 

The  pioB-MHOR,  or  great  Highland  bagpipe,  is  different  from  the  com- 
mon sharp  pipes  of  the  Low  country,  and  both  are  very  unlike  the  Irish 
or  flat  pipes.  The  first,  which  is  accurately  represented  in  the  frontis- 
piece, is  by  far  the  most  noble  and  warlike  instrument,  and  produces 
the  most  clear  and  ear-piercing  notes.  The  various  piipes  are  separate- 
ly inserted  in  the  bag,  and  the  drones  or  burdens  are  connected  by  rib- 
ands of  different  colors.  When  the  bag  is  inflated,  they  are  steadily 
supported  over  the  shoulder,  and  the  tallest  displays  a  flag,  on  which  is 
richly  embroidered  the  arms  of  the  chief,  colonel  of  a  regiment,  gentle- 
man, or  society,  in  whose  service  the  piper  may  be.  In  the  figure  in- 
troduced for  illustration  in  the  frontispiece,  the  arms  of  Scotland  are  the 
insignia. 

These  arms  have  been  alluded  to  in  page  196,  and  the  Lion  is  there 
shown  to  have  been  a  general  badge  of  the  Celtic  nations.  It  is 
asserted  by  all  heralds  and  historians  of  authority,  that  the  tressure  of " 
fleur-de-lis  was  added  to  the  arms  of  Scotland  by  Charlemagne,  to  indi- 
cate his  regard  for  the  nation;  but  when  the  Unicorns  were  adopted  as 
supporters,  is  not  ascertained.  They  bear  up  the  royal  banner,  and  that 
of  St.  Andrew,  and  stand,  as  here  shown, 'on  a  compartment,  and  not 
on  an  escrol,  as  often  represented.  For  the  "  lacesset"  in  the  motto,  I 
have  the  authority  of  Sir  George  Mac  Kenzie  and  other  competent  anti- 
quaries, and  the  difference  from  lacessit  is  certainly  of  some  importance 
in  this  very  nicely  regulated  science.  The  Scots,  as  is  well-known, 
paid  great  attention  to  heraldry,  and  the  whole  achievement,  as  a  speci- 
men of  their  skill,  must  be  allowed  to  have  a  good  effect,  even  pictori- 
ally.  The  ensign  of  Scotland,  that  is,  a  thistle  of  gold  imperially  crown- 
ed, is  represented  on  the  title-page.  The  Highland  Society  of  London 
have  a  pipe  flag  of  beautiful  workmanship  and  rich  effect.  Those  who 
have  no  flag  usually  display  party-colored  ribands,  which  have  a  very 
pretty  appearance  streaming  in  the  wind.  They  are  often  presented  by 
the  musician's  sweetheart,  and  are  of  course  exhibited  with  becoming 
pride. 

Several  pipers  carry  their  instruments  on  the  right  side,  and  some  are 
of  opinion  that  it  is  necessary  for  those  who  have  to  play  with  others, 
because  it  would  neither  look  well,  nor  be  convenient,  on  a  march,  for 
55 


434 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BAGPxPE. 


pipers  to  have  their  drones  all  over  the  same  shoulder.  Surely,  if  other- 
wise, it  would  look  as  awkward  as  if  the  soldiers  carried  their  muskets 
on  opposite  sides.  We  do  not  know  the  rule  which  prevailed  in  Sky, 
but  a  learner  would  most  assuredly  be  taught  to  use  his  right  hand  m 
tuning. 

The  pipe  through  which  the  wind  is  conveyed  is  also  kept  in  its  posi- 
tion by  the  tension  of  the  bag,  but  the  performer  does  not  allow  it  to 
slip  from  his  mouth,  but  retains  it  in  an  easy  manner,  the  end  being  tip- 
ped with  horn  to  prevent  its  being  injured  by  the  teeth.  It  has  a  joint, 
and  is  provided  with  a  leather  valve,  which  prevents  the  egress  of  air. 
The  Chanter,  or  pipe  on  which  the  tune  is  performed,  is  like  the  others 
fixed  in  a  head  stock,  which  is  sufficiently  large  to  contain  the  reed. 
This  is  formed  of  two  thin  slips  of  common  reed  or  cane,  fixed  with  much 
nicety  to  a  small  metal  tube,  and  produce  the  sound  by  vibration. 
Those  of  the  other  pipes  are  formed  of  a  joint  of  the  reed,  one  end  close, 
the  other  open,  with  an  oblong  slit  for  the  passage  of  the  air,  as  here 
shown. 


The  sharp  Lowland  pipes  have  the  same  tone  as  the  Highland, 
but  are  less  sonorous,  and  are  blown  by  a  bellows,  put  in  motion 
by  the  arm  opposite  to  that  under  which  the  bag  is  held.  This  is  the 
manner  of  giving  wind  to  the  Irish  pipes,  like  which  they  also  have 
the  three  drones  fixed  in  one  stock,  and  not  borne  over  the  shoulder,  but 
laid  horizontally  over  the  arm.  The  Union  pipes,  that  have  been  called 
the  Irish  organ,  are  the  sweetest  of  musical  instruments;  the  formation 
of  the  reeds,  and  the  length  of  the  pipes,  increased  by  brass  tubes,  pro- 
duce the  most  delightful  and  soothing  melody,  while  by  the  addition 
of  many  keys,  and  the  capability  of  the  chanter,  any  tune  may  be 
performed. 

One  George  Mackay  was  the  reformer  of  the  Scots'  Lowland  pipes, 
but  I  cannot  precisely  tell  the  nature  of  his  improvements;  he,  however, 
studied  seven  years  at  the  college  in  Sky. 

There  is  a  miniature  sort  of  bagpipe,  called  the  Northumberland,  the 
advantage  of  which  is  that  they  are  conveniently  portable,  and  are  much 
less  noisy  than  the  others.  None  of  these  sorts  resemble  the  rude  in- 
'  struments  of  the  same  kind  used  on  the  continent. 

The  pipes  are  commonly  formed  of  black  ebony  or  lignum  vitae ;  but 
woods  less  valuable,  and  less  excellent  for  the  purpose,  are  sometimes 
employed.  The  joints  are  handsomely  tipped  with  ivory  or  bone,  and 
silver  ornaments  and  precious  gems  are  often  placed  on  the  headstock 
of  the  chanter.  Northumberland  pipes  are  often  wholly  formed  of  ivory, 
and  richly  ornamented  with  silver.  The  bag  is  covered  witii  cloth  or 
tartan,  sometimes  fringed,  and  otherwise  adorned.  , 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BAGPIPE. 


435 


A  stand,*  or  set,  of  Highland  pipes  sometimes  cost  a  considerable 
sum,  especially  if  made  by  a  celebrated  tra;desman,  of  which  there  are 
several  in  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Perth,  Aberdeen,  and  Inverness. 

The  drones  are  tuned  by  means  of  the  movable  joints  to  the  E  of  the 
chanter,  the  two  small  ones  being  a  fifth  below,  and  the  larger  an  eighth, 
and  this  preparation,  called  the  Ludh,  is  what  often  needlessly  occupies 
so  much  time,  giving  rise  to  that  saying  in  the  Low  Country  applied  to 
one  who  procrastinates  in  a  small  affair:  "You  are  langer  o'  tuning 
your  pipes  nor  playing  your  spring."  To  be  sure,  the  pipes  must  be 
put  in  tune;  but  it  is  the  piper's  duty  to  have  them  in  as  good  order  as 
possible  before  he  is  called  to  perform,  and  thereby  avoid  that  monoto- 
nous noise  and  unmeaning  rhapsody  of  notes  which  many  feel  so  unpleas- 
ant. I  am  afraid  some  pipers  think  there  is  a  deal  of  grace  in  those 
flourishes  called  "preludes  of  tuning, "|  forms  of  which  are  actually 
taught;  but  I  can  say,  that  although  Scotsmen  may  bear  with  them,  to 
Englishmen  they  have  no  charms. 

On  the  chanter  are  nine  notes,  G,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  A,  and  a 
B  may  also  be  produced  by  "  pinching,"  that  is,  striking  the  thumb  nail 
in  a  peculiar  manner  in  the  hole  of  the  upper  note  A;  but  Highland 
pipers  do  not  admit  this  addition,  but  despise  its  assistance  as  much  as 
they  do  the  keys  and  other  attempted  improvements.  They  seem  inspir- 
ed with  the  same  feeling  which  led  the  Spartans  to  banish  Timotheus  for 
presuming  to  add  to  the  strings  of  the  lyre;  and  amusing  anecdotes  are 
told  of  their  concern  to  think  that  the  pipes  should  be  taught  by  notes, 
or  that  they  should  be  fettered  in  learning  by  book  rules. 

The  C  and  F  in  the  chanter  scale  are  sharp;  and  if  they  were  omitted 
it  would  be  the  ancient  Scotish  scale  of  C  major,  agreeing  with  that  of 
the  black  keys  of  the  piano,  but  these  sharps  are  not  noticed  by  the  per- 
former. Although  the  pipe  can  imitate  different  keys,  they  are  not  real, 
as  in  other  instruments. 

As  the  tone  of  the  bagpipes  is  continuous,  the  monotony  is  broken, 
and  the  notes  divided  by  warbling,  beating,  or  battering,  as  I  have  heard 
some  call  it,  which  is  done  by  a  sudden  movement  of  the  fingers  on  cer- 
tain other  notes.  Thus,  in  running  up  the  scale,  the  effect  is  given  to 
low  G  by  smartly  striking  the  hole  under  No.  1,  or  the  fore-finger  of  the 
upper  hand,  and  on  sounding  A  the  third  finger  counting  downwards 
performs  the  same  office.  This  will  explain  the  figures  inserted,  accord- 
ing to  the  plan  of  Capt.  Menzies,  in  his  Pipe  Preceptor,  to  show  the 
warbling  of  Cogadh  na  sith,  a  sort  of  expression  peculiar  to  the  bagpipe, 
and  productive  of  that  indescribable  thrilling  in  the  performance  of  a 
good  piobrachd,  or  of  many  of  the  other  pipe  tunes. 

There  is  an  ancient  and  celebrated  pipe  in  the  possession  of  the  chief 
of  Clan  Chattan,  known  as  the  Feadhan  dubh,  or  black  chanter,  con- 
cerning which  various  curious  particulars  are  recorded. 


*  The  absurd  term,  pair  of  pipes,"  perhaps  arose  from  many  of  the  poorer  sort  hav- 
ing formerly  but  two  drones.  It  may  be  observed,  pipers  often  have  but  two  that  aro 
furnished  with  reeds.  t  Deachin  Ghleust 


436 


rE/^DHAN  DUBH,  OR  BLACK  CHANTER. 


It  is  believed  to  possess  some  charm  or  supernatural  virtue,  which 
ensures  prosperity  to  its  owners  and  their  connexions.  It  is  this  instru- 
ment which  Sir  Walter  Scott  mentions  as  having  fallen  from  the  clouds 
during  the  conflict  on  the  North  inch  of  Perth  in  1396.  It  appears  to 
have  been  taken  from  the  vanquished  party  at  that  fiercely  contended 
battle. 

Three  Mac  Donalds,  of  Glenco,  had,  on  one  occasion,  taken  a  creagh 
from  Strathspey,  but  were  overtaken  by  a  strong  party  of  the  Grants 
near  Aviemore,  when  they  thought  themselves  out  of  danger;  and  while 
asleep  the  two  elder  Mac  Donalds  were  surprised  and  bound,  but  the 
younger  escaped  to  the  woods.  The  Grants,  on  their  retu^rn  home,  stop- 
ped about  two  miles  from  the  place,  and  while  they  were  refreshing  and 
enjoying  themselves  in  apparent  security,  the  three  dauntless  heroes, 
who  had  recovered  themselves  and  come  together,  attacked  their  ene- 
mies, sword  in  hand,  with  such  daring  and  resolution,  that  they  drove 
them  clean  off  with  confusion  and  slaughter,  kilHng  seven  and  wounding 
sixteen,  and  rescued  the  whole  of  the  cattle!  The  cry  of  the  two  elder 
Mac  Donalds  was  "A  mhic,  a  mhic,  luathich  do  laimh 's  cruadhich  do 
bhuille,"  i.  e.  My  son,  my  son,  quicken  and  harden  thy  blows. 

The  Laird  of  Grant,  vexed  in  the  highest  degree  at  the  shameful  con- 
duct of  his  men,  compelled  the  delinquents,  for  three  successive  Sun- 
days, to  walk  round  the  church  in  presence  of  all  the  rest  of  the  clan, 
carrying  wooden  swords  suspended  by  straw  ropes,  exclaiming,  "  we 
are  the  cowards  that  disgracefully  ran  away."  The  whole  clan  were 
disheartened  by  this  affair,  and  to  reanimate  them,  the  chief  sent  to 
Cluny  for  the  loan  of  the  Feadhan  dubh,  the  notes  of  which  could  in- 
fallibly rouse  every  latent  spark  of  valor.  Cluny  is  said  to  have  lent 
it  without  hesitation,  saying  his  men  stood  in  no  need  of  it.  How  long 
it  remained  with  them  at  this  time  does  not  appear;  but  after  it  had  been 
restored,  the  Grants  again  received  it,  and  it  remained  with  them  until 
1822,  when  Grant  of  Glenmorriston  presented  it  to  Ewen  Mac  Pherson, 
Esq.  of  Cluny,  the  present  worthy  chief*  It  is  probable  that  the  last 
loan  of  this  wonderful  chanter  was  made  to  the  Grants  of  Glenmorriston, 
who  had  no  doubt  observed  the  happy  effects  of  its  possession  among 
their  brethren  in  Strathspey.  This  clan  had,  however,  an  opinion  of 
their  own  prowess,  that  would  seem  to  render  it  improbable  they  should 
require  such  aid,  and  had,  besides,  some  particular  charm  by  which 
they  rendered  themselves  invulnerable;  in  which  belief  they  fearlessly 
engaged  in  war,  and,  in  truth,  acted  like  heroes;  although  the  writer  of 
a  MS.  history  of  the  clan,  which  I  have  seen  in  the  King's  Library, 
sneeringly  says,  they  prevented  their  charm  from  working  at  the  battle 
of  Sherifmuir,  by  making  a  speedy  retreat. 

The  Mac  Phersons  assuredly,  whether  in  consequence  of  their  fortu- 
nate talisman  or  their  own  bravery,  have  never  been  in  a  battle  which 
was  lost,  at  least  where  the  chief  was  present.  Before  the  battle  of 
Culloden,  an  old  witch,  or  second  seer,  told  the  Duke  of  Cumberland, 

*  His  letter  to  the  author. 


DANCING. 


437 


that  if  he  waited  until  the  bratach  uaine,  or  green  banner,  came  up,  he 
would  be  defeated. 

The  cultivation  and  practice  of  poetry  and  music  are  chief  amuse- 
ments of  the  Gael,  and  connected  with  both  is  dancing.  If  the  Scots 
excel  in  the  former,  they  certainly  of  all  nations  are  preeminent  in  par- 
tiality to  the  latter.  Their  passion  for  this  pleasing  and  healthy  exer- 
cise is  indeed  so  strong,  that  it  seems  part  of  their  nature.  The  art  of 
dancing,  which  a  person  without  a  musical  ear  can  never  attain,  is  a 
harmonious  adaptation  of  the  bodily  powers  to  time  and  measure,  accom- 
panied with  grace,  ease,  expression,  position,  &c. ;  yet  the  Scots  have 
been  said  to  be  "  entirely  without  grace"  in  their  dances.  Their  agility 
may  surprise,  without  pleasing,  those  who  do  not  understand  the  national 
system,  but  that  a  person  should  be  able  to  execute  the  most  intricate 
and  complex  steps  with  the  utmost  ease,  keeping  the  justest  time,  with- 
out "a  particle  of  grace,"  is  surely  impossible.  Grace,  in  dancing,  is 
described  as  "  fitness  of  parts  and  good  attitude,"  and  that  the  Highlan- 
ders possess  these  necessary  qualifications  cannot  be  denied;  indeed, 
their  aptitude  for  music  is  not  more  striking  than  their  fondness  for  the 
national  reel. 

Dancing  has  been  practised  by  almost  every  people;  it  formed,  in 
fact,  part  of  the  religious  ceremonies  of  almost  all  nations,  and  the  gods 
are  not  only  said  to  have  been  pleased,  but  were  themselves  emulous  in 
the  dance.    Pindar  represents  Silenus  as 

"  Strenuous  in  the  dance  to  beat 
Tuneful  measures  with  his  feet." 

It  was  also  encouraged  as  a  useful  and  elegant  amusement,  and  the 
Athenians  reckoned  those  unpolite  who  refused  to  dance  at  a  proper 
time.*  Its  importance  as  an  innocent  and  healthful  recreation  rendered 
it  an  object  of  attention  to  the  legislator.  Lycurgus  instituted  dancing 
from  a  conviction  of  its  utility  in  making  the  youth  strong,  agile,  and  ex- 
pert in  the  use  of  their  weapons,  and  in  the  evolutions  of  warfare.  This 
particular  sort  was  accompanied  with  the  singing  of  certain  heroic 
verses,  and  was  performed  by  the  old  men,  the  youth,  and  children. 
Homer  mentions  the  art  as  a  diversion  at  entertainments;  and  Merion, 
one  of  his  heroes,  was  known  among  the  Grecian  chiefs  by  a  grace- 
ful carriage  and  superior  agility,  acquired  from  his  long  practice  of 
dancing. 

The  effect  of  dancing  and  music  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  is  certainly 
considerable.  Polybius  attributes  the  hospitality  and  piety  of  the  Ar- 
cadians to  the  care  with  which  these  two  arts  were  cultivated,  the  youth 
being  instructed  in  them  at  the  public  expense;  and  this  influence  he 
proves  from  contrasting  those  happy  people  with  the  Cynasthians,  a 
neighboring  nation,  that  neglected  so  salutary  regulations.  Dancing 
promotes"  health,  cheerfulness,  and  the  kindly  affections  between  the 
sexes,  and  Locke  says  it  ought  always  to  be  taught  to  children,  as  it 


*  Note  in  Beloes'  Herodotus,  vi. 


4S8 


DANCING. 


gives  graceful  motions  to  all  their  actions,  and,  above  all  things,  manli- 
ness and  a  becoming  confidence;  for  this  effect  he  cannot  account,  but 
his  good  opinion  entirely  coincides  with  that  of  the  wisest  of  the  ancients 
Socrates  became  so  sensible  of  the  good  effects  of  this  exercise,  that  in 
his  old  age  he  sedulously  practised  it;  and  Lucian,  Plato,  Aristotle, 
Athseneus,  Xenophon,  Plutarch,  and  others,  have  written  in  praise  of 
it.  Some  of  the  ancient  philosophers  were  excellent  dancers,  and  thought 
it  not  unbecoming  to  perform  in  public;  Lucian  even  goes  so  far  as  to 
say  that  dancing  works  all  the  wonders  ascribed  to  the  caduceus  of  Mer- 
cury, being  able  at  the  same  time  to  soothe  and  animate  the  soul.  Among 
the  Jews,  it  was  a  solemn  religious  discipline ;  and,  as  an  oxercise  of  di- 
vine worship,  was  of  no  less  importance  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
Nor  was  the  performance  confined  to  the  men ;  when  Moses  had  con- 
ducted the  Israelites  across  the  Red  Sea,  he  and  his  sister  Miriam  per- 
formed a  grand  chorus  and  accompanying  dance.  Pliny  calls  the  sa- 
cred dances  "  mediatorial." 

Of  the  ancient  Celtic  dancing  we  find  some  curious  particulars.  The 
Lusitani,  says  Diodorus,  have  a  light  and  airy  dance  which  they  prac- 
tise in  peace,  and  which  requires  great  dexterity  and  nimbleness  of  legs 
and  thighs.  In  war,  they  march,  observing  time  and  measure,  and  sing 
their  triumphal  songs  when  they  are  ready  to  charge  the  enemy. 

The  passion  for  dancing  was  strong  in  all  the  Celtic  race,  and  it  was 
employed  in  the  services  of  religion^  some  remains  of  which  practice 
long  continued  among  the  Welsh,  who  were  accustomed  to  dance  in  the 
church-yard.  Rincefada,  or  field  dance  in  Irish,  shows  its  relation  to 
Rineadoir,  a  musician.  This  was  performed  to  the  Cuisley  Ciuil,  a 
simple  sort  of  bagpipe  before  described,  and  used  to  conclude  all  balls. 
When  James  II.  landed  at  Kinsale,  his  friends  received  him  with  the 
rincefada,  by  which  he  was  much  gratified.  The  manner  of  its  execu- 
tion was  thus; — three  persons  abreast,  holding  the  ends  of  a  white  hand- 
kerchief, moved  forward  a  few  paces  to  the  sound  of  slow  music,  the 
rest  of  the  dancers  following  in  couples,  and  holding  also  a  white  hand- 
kerchief between  them.  The  music  then  changing  to  a  quicker  tune, 
the  dance  began,  the  performers  passing  successively  under  the  hand- 
kerchiefs of  the  three  in  front,  and  then  wheeling  round  in  semi-circles, 
they  formed  a  variety  of  pleasing  evolutions,  interspersed  with  occasional 
entrechats,  finally  uniting  and  resuming  their  original  places.  The 
Manx  are  much  addicted  to  dancing  jigs  and  reels,  in  which  four  or  five 
couple  join  to  the  music  of  a  fiddle.  English  country  dances  are  un- 
known among  them. 

We  are  told  that  the  military  dances  of  the  old  Irish  were  conducted 
by  the  Curinky,  or  dancing-master,  a  surname  that  yet  exists  in  many 
families. 

The  ancient  Caledonians  had  a  sort  of  Pyrrhic  dance  over  swords, 
which  is  not  yet  entirely  unknown,  but  the  Gilli-Callum,  which  gener- 
ally terminates  a  ball,  is  supposed  to  have  but  a  faint  resemblance  to  the 
ancient  sword-dance.    The  same  observation  may  be  applied  to  the  dirk- 


DANCING. 


439 


dance.  Both  of  them  are,  indeed,  still  executed  by  a  few,  and  were 
exhibited  in  London  some  years  ago  by  one  Mac  Glassan;  but  a  gen- 
tleman informed  me  that  he  knew  a  person  who  at  the  age  of  106,  saw 
the  dirk-dance  performed,  and  declared  it  was  not  at  all  like  that  which 
he  had  formerly  known.  Besides  these,  it  is  evident  from  the  words  of 
an  old  Isle  of  Sky  dancing  song,  Bualidh  mi  u  an  sa  chean,  "  I  will 
break  your  head,"  that  the  parties  in  the  performance  went  through  the 
evolutions  of  attack  and  defence.  The  chief  art  in  the  modern  sword- 
dance  consists  in  the  dexterity  with  which  the  dancer  escapes  touching 
one  or  more  swords  or  sticks  crossed  on  the  ground,  the  tune  to  which 
it  was  performed  being  called  Gilli-Callum,  and  that  appropriate  to  the 
dirk,  Phadric  Mac  Combish.  There  was  a  dance  called  Rungmor,  of 
which  little  is  now  known;  from  the  only  description  I  could  get  of  it, 
the  dancer  appeared  in  some  manner  to  touch  the  ground  with  his 
thighs,  without  losing  his  balance. 

In  Lochaber  there  was  formerly  a  gymnasium  for  teaching  all  sorts 
of  athletic  exercises  and  graceful  accomplishments,  the  scholars  eating 
at  a  common  table,  being  allowed  a  certain  time  for  their  meals,  and 
submitting  to  other  regulations;  but,  without  tuition,  the  Highlanders 
excel  in  dancing.  A  perfect  judge  thus  expresses  himself:  "This 
pleasing  propensity,  one  would  think,  was  born  with  them,  from  the 
early  indications  we  sometimes  see  their  children  show  for  this  exer- 
cise. I  have  seen  children  of  theirs,  of  five  or  six  years  of  age,  at- 
tempt, nay,  even  execute,  some  of  their  steps  so  well,  as  almost  to  sur- 
pass belief.  I  once  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  in  a  remote  part  of  the 
country,  a  reel  danced  by  a  herd  boy  and  two  young  girls,  who  sur- 
prised me  much,  especially  the  boy,  who  appeared  to  be  about  twelve 
years  of  age.  He  had  a  variety  of  well  chosen  steps,  and  executed 
them  with  so  much  justness  and  ease,  as  if  he  meant  to  set  criticism  at 
defiance;"  and,  speaking  of  the  colleges  of  Aberdeen,  where  he  was 
long  established  as  an  elegant  and  accomplished  teacher  of  dancing, 
he  adds,  "  they  draw  hither,  every  year,  a  number  of  students  from  the 
Western  Isles,  as  well  as  from  the  Highlands,  and  the  greater  part 
of  them  excel  in  the  dance;  some  of  them  indeed,  in  so  superior  a  de- 
gree, that  I  myself  have  thought  them  worthy  of  imitation." 

After  the  toils  of  a  long  day,  young  men  and  women  will  walk  many 
miles  to  enjoy  a  dance,  which  seems  to  have  the  effect  of  banishing 
fatigue,  and,  instead  of  adding  to  the  sensation  of  weariness,  it  becomes 
really  a  recreation.  This  delight  in  dancing  is  diffused  throughout 
Scotland,  and  the  strongest  efforts  of  the  kirk  to  put  down  "  promiscu- 
ous dancing,"  with  the  bitter  reproofs  of  the  more  rigid  covenanters, 
have  failed  in  repressing  the  *'  ungodly"  exercise. 

The  reel  and  strathspey  are  the  dances  common  to  all  the  Scots,  and 
those  of  which  they  are  most  passionately  fond.  They  are  either  a 
quartett  or  trio,  "  a  foursome  or  a  threesome  reel;"  and  those  who  are 
ignorant  of  this  species  of  dance  will  find  the  principal  steps  used  in  it 
plainly  described  by  Peacock,  the  intelligent  writer  already  mentioned. 


440 


DANCING.— SINGLE  STICK. 


It  will  be  observed  that  the  difference  in  time  between  the  two  sorts  of 
music  produces  a  corresponding  difference  in  the  steps  or  evolutions. 

I  shall  here  present  the  reader  with  a  list  of  those  most  in  use  by  the 
Highlanders. 

Ceum-siubhail,  pronounced  kemshoole,  the  forward  step,  is  the  com- 
mon step  for  the  promenade  or  figure.  Ceum-coisiche,  or  kemkossey, 
IS  the  setting  or  footing  step,  and  is  divided  into  three  sorts:  first,  where 
one  step  is  equal  to  a  bar;  second,  where  two  steps  are  required  to  a 
bar;  and  third,  where  two  bars  are  required  to  a  step.  Leum-trasd,  or 
cross  springs,  are  a  series  of  Sissonnes.  Siabadh-trasd,  chasing  steps 
or  cross  slips,  is  like  the  ballotte.  Aiseag-trasd,  or  cross  passes,  is  a  fa- 
vorite step  in  the  Highlands.  Ceum-Badenach  is  another  step  much 
used,  and  requiring  considerable  agility.  Fosgladh,  or  open  step,  and 
Cuartag,  or  turning  step,  are  also  very  becoming  movements.  All  these, 
and  many  more  are  combined  in  one  dance,  and  the  association  depends 
on  the  taste  of  the  party.  That  called  the  back  step,  in  which  the  feet 
are  each  alternately  slipped  behind,  and  reach  the  ground  on,  or  close 
to,  the  spot  occupied  by  the  one  just  removed,  is  of  difficult  acquire- 
ment, and  severely  exerts  the  muscles  of  the  calfs  of  the  legs.  So  much 
dexterity  can  some  persons  display  in  this,  that  they  will  go  through  the 
setting  time  of  the  music  without  moving  beyond  a  space  marked  by  the 
circumference  of  their  bonnet. 

Sean  trius,  or  old  trowsers,  from  the  name  of  the  accompanying  air, 
IS  the  native  Highland  hornpipe,  and  is  danced  with  much  grace. 

1  have  seen  two  brothers  of  the  name  of  Grant,  who  were  good  violin 
players,  exhibit  feats  of  great  agility.  Part  of  their  performance  con- 
sisted of  dancing  the  Highland  fling,  in  that  style  called  the  Marquis  of 
Huntley's,  Strathspeys  over  a  rope,  and  Gilli-Callum  over  a  fiddle  bow; 
and  one  of  them  danced  a  Strathspey,  played  the  fiddle,  played  bass  on 
the  bagpipe,  smoked,  spoke  Gaelic,  and  explained  it  in  question  and 
answer  at  the  same  time ! 

Dancing,  among  the  Gael,  does  not  depend  on  the  presence  of  musical 
instruments.  They  reel  and  set  to  their  own  vocal  music,  or  to  the 
songs  of  those  who  are  near;  people,  whose  hearts  are  light  and  respon- 
sive to  their  native  melodies,  will  find  their  limbs  move  in  consonance  to 
its  music,  however  produced. 

Single  stick,  or  cudgel  play,  was  formerly  taught  the  youth  from  an 
early  age,  as  a  necessary  preparation  for  the  management  of  the  broad- 
sword, and  they  used  in  certain  dances  to  exhibit  their  dexterity.  They 
are  still  partial  to  this  amusement;  in  the  higher  parts  of  Aberdeen- 
shire "the  young  farmers,"  says  the  Rev.  Skene  Keith,  "  like  their 
fathers,  are  very  expert  in  dancing  and  managing  a  cudgel  without  a 
master." 

The  delight  which  the  Gael  had  in  the  recitation  of  their  traditional 
history  was  extreme.  The  duty  of  preserving  and  relating  their  legends 
was  properly  the  province  of  the  bards,  who  were  supported  for  the 
purpose,  but  the  whole  population  were  accustomed  to  acquire  the  sgeu 


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CUILFHIONN. 


A  SLOW  MARCH. 


No.  2. 


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8 


No.  8. 


MAC  MO  RIGH  S'DOL  EIDEADH. 

Slow.  A  SONG  OF  THE  DRUIDS. 


I 


CUMHADH  FION. 

OSSIAN'S  LAMENT  FOR  HIS  FATHER. 


Very  Slow  and  Expressive. 


No.  9. 


— # 


GAMING. 


441 


lachds,  or  historical  narrations,  and  when  there  was  no  bard,  the  teller 
of  tales,  sometimes  called  the  rhymer,  a  character  much  respected,  sup- 
plied his  place. 

The  Irish  had  their  cleasamhneagh,  or  jesters,  and  druith  righeadh, 
or  royal  mimics.*  We  find  there  were  in  the  Scots'  army,  in  1138,  buf- 
foons and  jesters,  both  male  and  female.  A  curious  amusement  is 
described  in  p.  400,  and  it  has  been  stated  elsewhere  that  little  dramas 
and  ludicrous  interludes  from  the  ancient  poems,  were  often  performed. 

An  idle  people  are  naturally  prone  to  gaming.  Tacitus,  speaking  of 
the  Germans,  says  they  were  passionately  given  to  play  at  games  of 
chance,  at  which  they  continued  not  only  until  their  whole  substance 
was  gone,  but  would  even  stake  their  lives,  and,  if  they  lost,  would 
patiently  suffer  themselves  to  be  sold,  calling  it  honor!  The  brother- 
hood of  Carrows,  a  sort  of  common  gamblers  m  Ireland,  resembled  these 
Germans.  They  did  nothing  else  but  play  cards  all  the  year  round, 
staking  their  mantles,  shirts,  and  every  thing  to  the  bare  skin,  when  they 
trussed  themselves  in  straw  or  leaves,  and  in  that  state  would  wait  on 
the  highways  with  unabated  desire,  and  invite  passengers  to  play  on  the 
green.  "  For  defaulte  of  other  stuffe,  they  pawn  portions  of  their  glibe, 
the  nails  of  their  fingers  and  toes,"  and  other  members  of  their  body, 
which  they  lose  or  redeem,  at  the  courtesy  of  the  winner. |  One  of  the 
Irish  games,  called  "  short  castle,"  is  played  by  two  persons,  with  three 
counters  or  pebbles  on  a  board  marked  by  a  cross  and  two  diagonals,  the 
game  being  won  by  getting  the  three  on  a  straight  line.  Chess  and 
drafts  were  favorite  amusements  of  the  Highlanders.  A  passage  from 
a  poem  of  Mary  Mac  Leod,  given  in  p.  402,  mentions  the  delight  which 
her  chief  took  in  these  games.  Martin  describes  a  set  of  "  table  men," 
carved  with  different  figures,  which  he  saw,  that  were  made  of  a  blue 
sort  of  stone  found  in  Lewis,  and  relates  a  curious  occurrence  of  sec- 
ond sight  that  happened  when  Sir  Norman  Mac  Leod  and  some  others 
were  playing  at  a  game  of  tables  called  Falmer-more,  where  three  of  a 
side  cast  dice  in  turn,  for  the  disposition  of  the  pieces. 

Hunting,  which  has  been  already  described,  was  a  favorite  diversion 
of  the  Celts;  their  other  amusements  were  chiefly  of  a  martial  charac-^ 
ter,  and  on  several  occasions  there  have  been  opportunities  of  showing 
their  propensity  to  display  their  courage  and  address  in  single  com- 
bat. The  amusement  described  in  page  92,  so  popular  among  the 
Germans,  strikingly  shows  the  military  character  of  that  people.  The 
rude  Celts  had  no  taste  for  the  refined  pleasures  of  other  nations,  their 
only  enjoyment  being  in  those  manly  sports  which  cherished  their  war 
like  and  independent  spirit.  For  this  purpose  chariot-racing  and  other 
sports  were  apparently  enjoined  as  a  religious  duty,  and  to  inspire  the 
people  with  due  ardor,  the  services  of  the  bards  were  consecrated. 
Some  Frisian  ambassadors,  it  is  related,  having  visited  Rome,  they  were 
taken  to  the  theatres,  as  the  most  attractive  exhibitions,  but,  to  the 


Coll.  reb.  Hibernica. 
56 


t  Campion.    Riche,  p.  38, 


442 


ATHLETIC  EXERCISES.— HIGHLAND  GAMES. 


astonishment  of  the  Romans,  those  men  took  not  the  smallest  interest  in 
the  amusements.  The  Caledonians  practised  a  sort  of  tournament, 
which  is  spoken  of  in  old  poems  as  "  the  honor  of  the  spear,"  and  in 
their  encounter,  they  only  asked  cothrum  na  Feinne,  "  the  equal  com- 
bat of  the  Fingalians."  Athletic  exercises  were  the  delight  of  the  Gael, 
and  from  the  chief  to  the  lowest  clansman,  they  vied  with  each  other  in 
generous  contention,  the  highest  individual  being  often  the  strongest  and 
most  accomplished  in  feats  of  prowess.  An  anecdote  is  related  of  a 
wrestler,  who,  presuming  on  his  great  strength  and  skill,  had  insulted  a 
whole  clan,  none  of  whom  would  venture  to  encounter  him,  except  the 
chief,  who  accepted  his  challenge,  and  succeeded  in  vanquishing  him, 
but  in  the  exertion  he  burst  a  blood-vessel,  and  shortly  .afterwards  died. 
Besides  Gleachd,  or  wrestling,  the  Highlanders  contend  for  a  short 
stick  or  rachd,  which  they  endeavor  to  wrench  out  of  each  other's  grasp. 
They  also,  sitting  on  the  ground,  feet  to  feet,  and  mutually  holding  a 
stick,  endeavor  each  by  main  strength  to  force  his  opponent  from  the 
ground. 

The  Clach-neart,  literally  stone  of  strength,  or  the  putting  stone,  is 
a  favorite  and  ancient  amusement,  and  consists  in  projecting  a  large 
round  stone  to  the  greatest  possible  distance.  It  was  formerly  the  cus- 
tom to  have  one  of  these  lying  at  the  gate  of  every  chieftian's  house,  and 
on  the  arrival  of  a  stranger,  he  was  asked  as  a  compliment  to  throw. 
Indeed,  when  chiefs  or  gentlemen  called  on  each  other,  their  followers 
always  diverted  themselves  in  wrestling,  fencing,  putting,  running,  &c., 
and  sometimes  resorted  to  the  more  serious  amusement  of  breaking  each 
other's  heads  in  good  earnest.  The  throwing  of  the  stone  requires  both 
strength  and  skill,  to  which  practice  alone  can  give  effect. 

Clach  cuid  fir  is  lifting  a  large  stone  two  hundred  pounds  or  more 
from  the  ground,  and  placing  it  on  the  top  of  another  about  four  feet 
high.  A  youth  that  can  do  this  is  forthwith  reckoned  a  man,  whence 
the  name  of  the  amusement,  and  may  then  wear  a  bonnet. 

Throwing  a  heavy  sledge  hammer  is  a  popular  trial  of  strength,  which 
often  leads  the  blacksmith  and  his  customers  to  forget  their  business  for 
some  time.  A  fine  trial  of  strength  is  by  endeavoring  to  turn  a  heavy 
bar  of  iron  fairly  over,  by  placing  the  foot  under  it. 

Swiftness  of  foot  was  reckoned  a  very  considerable  accomplishment, 
and  was  often  of  much  importance  in  their  military  transactions.  We 
have  seen  the  Highlanders  able  to  contend  with  cavalry  in  running,  and 
their  ability  in  this  way  had  a  double  advantage — if  they  put  the  enemy 
to  flight,  it  was  not  possible  to  escape  their  pursuit,  and  if  themselves 
routed,  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  molest  their  retreat.  The  Geal  ruith, 
or  racing  game,  which  comprehended  the  running  leap,  to  the  High- 
landers so  useful  an  accomplishment,  was  sedulously  practised,  and  the 
gilli  ruith,  or  running  footman,  was  capable  of  performing  astonishing 
feats  of  pedestrianism,  both  in  distance  and  velocity. 

Boat  racing  and  Geal-snamh,  or  contests  in  swimming,  were  also, 


HIGHLAND  GAMES. 


443 


popular,  and  a  native  of  Isla  was  not  reckoned  a  man  if  he  could  not 
catch  a  seal  when  in  the  water. 

A  truly  Highland  sport  is  Cluich-bhal,  or  Camanachd,  called  in  the 
Low  Country  hurling  or  shinny,  and  in  Ireland  bandy.  Great  numbers 
collect  on  a  plain,  chiefly  about  Christmas,  and  dividing  into  parties  of 
twelve  and  upwards  on  a  side,  endeavor,  by  means  of  sticks,  crooked 
at  the  lower  end,  to  drive  a  ball  to  a  certain  goal.  This  is  a  very 
animated  game,  and  is  enlivened  by  numerous  spectators,  plenty  of 
whisky,  and  by  the  presence  of  pipers.  The  balls  in  Argyleshire  are 
often  of  wood;  in  Badenach  they  are  formed  of  hair,  hard  and  firm- 
ly twisted. 

The  Golf,  called  Cluich-dhesog,  is  a  Highland  game,  but  is  more 
simple  than  as  played  in  the  Lowlands.  Two  or  more  persons,  by  means 
of  clubs  of  a  certain  form,  strike  a  small  hard  ball,  the  contest  being  to 
decide  either  who  shall  reach  a  distant  spot,  or  put  the  ball  into  a  hole 
with  the  fewest  strokes. 

Two  parties  kicking  a  ball  with  the  feet  in  opposite  directions  is  anoth- 
er game,  where  much  agility  is  required.  Grand  matches  were  formerly 
played  in  the  Northern  counties  on  Fasten's  even,  and  other  festivals. 
"  The  Christmas  ba'in'  of  Monymusk,"  in  Aberdeenshire,  has  been 
described  in  a  poem  by  the  Rev.  John  Skinner,  1739,  which  is  wor- 
thy of  comparison  with  the  "  Christ's  Kirk  on  the  Green,"  of  King 
James  I.  or  the  productions  of  Allan  Ramsay. 

As  a  humorous  description  of  this  popular  diversion,  which  at  the 
above  place  was  formerly  held  in  the  churchyard,  and,  as  a  specimen 
of  the  singular  dialect  of  that  part  of  Scotland,  which,  to  most  readers, 
will  require  a  ^iosspry  to  be  understood,  a  few  verses,  taken  at  random 
from  the  poem  ^fj  be  thought  worthy  of  insertion. 

Has  ne'er  in  a'  this  country  been 

Sic  shouderin'  an'  sic  fa'in', 

As  happen'd  twa  three  days  sin'  seen, 

Here  at  the  Christmas  ba'in'. 

At  even  syne  the  follows  keen 

Drank  till  the  neist  days  dawin'; 

Sae  snell  that  some  tint  baith  their  een, 

An'  could  na'  pay  their  law  in' 

For  a'  that  day. 

Rob  Roy,  I  wat  he  was  na'  dull, 

He  first  leit  at  the  ba', 

An'  wi'  a  rap,  clash'd  Geordy's  skull 

Hard  to  the  steeple  Ava'. 

Wha  was  aside  but  auld  Tam  Tull, 

His  frien's  mischance  he  saw, 

He  briend  like  ony  baited  bull, 

An'  wi'  aye  thud  dang  twa, 

To  the  yird  that  day. 

In  cam'  the  inset  Dominie, 
Just  riflin'  frae  his  dinner, 


CHRISTMAS  BA'ING. 


A  young  mess  John,  as  ane  could  see, 
Was  neither  saint  nor  sinner. 
A  brattlin'  band  unhappilee, 
Drave  by  hira  wi'  a  binner, 
An'  heels-o'er-gowdy  couped  lie, 
An'  rave  his  gued  horn  penner 

In  twa  that  day. 

A  stalwart  stirk  in  tartan  claise, 
Sware  mony  a  sturdy  aith. 
To  bear  the  ba'  thro'  a'  his  faes, 
An'  nsB  kape  muckle  skaith. 
Rob  Roy  heard  the  friksome  fraise, 
Well  browden'd  in  his  graith, 
Gowph'd  him  alang  his  shins  ablaise. 
An'  gart  him  tine  baith  faith. 

An'  feet  that  day. 

The  prior's  man,  a  chiel  as  stark 

Amaist  as  giant  could  be. 

He  kent  afore  o'  this  day's  wark. 

For  certain  that  it  would  be. 

He  ween'd  to  drive  in  o'er  the  park, 

An'  ilk  ane  thought  it  should  be  ; 

"What  way  it  was  he  miss'd  the  mark, 

1  canna'  tell,  but  fou't  be, 

He  fell  that  day 

Ere  he  wan  out  o'  that  foul  lair. 
That  black  mischance  had  gi'en  him, 
There  tumbled  an'  unlucky  pair 
O'  mawtent  lowns  abeen  him. 
It  would  hae  made  your  heart  fu'  sair. 
Gin  ye  had  only  seen  him; 
An't  hadna'  been  for  Davy  Mair, 
The  rascals  had  outdeen  him, 

Belyve  that  day. 

When  Sawney  saw  the  Sutor  slain, 
He  was  his  ain  half  brither, 
I  wot  mysel  he  was  right  brain, 
An'  how  could  he  be  ither  ? 
He  ran  to  help  wi'  might  an'  main, 
Twa  buckled  wi'  him  thegither, 
Wi'  a  firm  yowph  he  fell'd  the  tane, 
An'  wi'  a  gowph  the  tither, 

Fell'd  him  that  day. 

In  Mony  musk  was  never  seen, 

Sae  mony  well  befl  skins. 

O'  a'  the  ba'  men  there  was  nane 

But  had  twa  bleedy  shins. 

■Wi'  streinzit  shouders  mony  ane 

Dree'd  pennance  for  their  sins; 

An'  what  was  warst,  scowp'd  hame  their  lane, 

May  be  to  hungry  inns 

An'  cauld  that  day. 


STRATH- FILLAN  GAMES— QUEEN  MARY'S  HAltP. 


445 


The  Strath-fillan  Society,  lately  established  by  Lord  Gwydir,  on  his 
Drummond  estate,  in  Perthshire,  is  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  all 
sorts  of  games  and  amusements  peculiar  to  the  Highlands.  The  annual 
meetings  are  held  in  a  romantic  spot,  and  are  attended  by  numerous 
noblemen,  gentlemen,  and  ladies,  with  a  large  assemblage  of  Highland- 
ers. The  effect  of  their  gaudy  costume,  the  bagpipes,  and  the  various 
sports  exhibited  amid  highly  picturesque  scenery,  is  extremely  fine.  A 
beautiful  lake  affords  the  pleasure  of  a  boat  race,  and  a  recital  of  Gaelic 
compositions  relieves  the  fatigue  of  the  athletic  exercises,  while  prizes 
of  bagpipes,  dirks,  suits  of  tartans,  snuff  mulls,  &c.,  send  the  competi- 
tors home  in  high  delight. 

Two  of  the  Druidical  order  are  shown  at  the  commencement  of  this 
chapter.  As  the  poets  and  musicians  of  the  Celts,  they  occupy  an  ap- 
propriate place;  and  as  a  highly  interesting  specimen  of  the  peculiar 
instrument  which  belonged  to  the  order,  the  harp  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  is  here  introduced. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


RELIGION,  MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES,  AND  FUNERAL  RITES. 

Druidis3I  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  systems  of  religion.  It  is  sup- 
posed by  many  to  have  been  derived  from  Pythagoras,  but  is  certainly 
of  much  more  remote  origin.  According  to  Clemens  Alexandrinus, 
Pythagoras  was  but  an  auditor  of  the  Gauls.  Valerius  Maximus  asserts 
that  his  opinions  were  those  of  the  Celts,  and  lamblichus  says  he  heard 
that  his  learning  consisted  of  the  Gallic  and  Iberian  mysteries.  Druid- 
ism  must  be  a  more  ancient  system  than  the  time  of  this  philosopher, 
who  appears  to  have  borrowed  his  tenets  from  it.  He  was,  perhaps,  a 
reformer  of  a  religion  that  had  begun  to  lose  its  original  simplicity,  but 
it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  was  a  near  resemblance  among  an- 
cient systems  of  religion,  as  there  was  an  affinity  of  language  and  simi- 
larity of  manners.  Eumolpus,  the  Thracian,  introduced  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries  to  the  Greeks,  who  subsequently  revered  them  so  deeply.  At 
this  period  the  Athenians  were  beginning  to  distinguish  themselves  from 
their  neighbors,  and  their  fertile  genius  soon  produced,  from  the  simple 
dogmas  of  their  ancestors,  a  peculiar  system  of  theology;  hence  Lucian 
thought  it  strange  that  the  barbarians,  who  introduced  those  mysteries, 
should  be  afterwards  excluded  from  them. 

The  religious  connexions  which  the  Greeks  had  in  the  most  distant 
ages  formed  with  the  Hyperborei,  proves  that  the  primitive  mythology 
was  at  first  universally  respected.  Those  people,  who  are  believed  to 
have  been  the  inhabitants  of  Britain,  were  in  the  practice,  from  a  period 
before  all  record,  to  transmit  their  first  fruits  to  Delos.  Eratosthenes 
relates  that  Apollo  deposited  the  arrow  with  which  he  slew  the  Cyclops 


RELIGION. 


with  the  Hyperhorei;  that  their  high  priest  Abaris  carried  it  to  Greece, 
and  at  last  presented  it  to  Pythagoras.  This  story  is  too  mysterious  for 
elucidation;  it  is  probably  allegorical,  but  it  shows  the  veneration  which 
was  in  those  ages  paid  to  one  religion. 

The  secrecy  with  which  the  mysteries  of  ancient  religion  were  preserv- 
ed is  remarkable.  The  priest  and  other  members  concealed  their  know- 
ledge from  the  uninitiated  with  the  most  scrupulous  care,  which,  in  most 
cases,  arose  from  feelings  of  real  piety.  Those  who  did  not  value  their 
oaths  of  secrecy  must  have  been  deterred  from  divulging  their  secrets 
by  the  fear  of  detection  and  consequent  execration  and  punishment. 
The  dark  allusions  to  the  mysteries  of  pagan  theology  occasion  a  regret 
that  they  are  now  unknown.  "  I  shall  not  relate  what  I  know,"  says 
Pausanias,  "from  the  mysteries  of  the  mother  of  the  gods,  concerning 
Mercury  and  the  Ram;"  again,  "who  the  Cabiri  are,  and  what  the 
ceremonies  performed  in  honor  of  them  and  the  mother  of  the  gods,  I 
must  beg  those  who  are  desirous  of  hearing  such  particulars  to  suffer  me 
to  pass  over  in  silence;"  farther  he  adds,  Ceres  deposited  something  with 
Prometheus,  one  of  the  Cabiri.  What  this  deposit  was,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances respecting  it,  piety  forbids  me  to  disclose.*  It  was  the 
invariable  practice  of  the  ancient  priests  and  philosophers  to  teach  by 
enigmas,  lest  strangers  should  be  able  to  understand  them. 

The  Druids  committed  none  of  their  theological  secrets  to  writing,  a 
principle  which  has  involved  their  system  in  peculiar  obscurity.  The 
singular  practice  of  committing  their  doctrinal  learning  to  memory  was  a 
severe  and  tedious  probation  for  a  student,  but  it  was  well  calculated,  in 
the  particular  state  of  Celtic  society,  to  preserve  in  purity  their  ancient 
traditions.  The  care  with  which  this  race  cultivated  the  memory  has. 
been  shown  in  the  previous  chapter.  The  youth  spent  twenty  years  in 
acquiring  the  knowledge  necessary  to  the  Druidic  profession,  and,  it  is 
said,  stored  their  minds  with  no  less  than  60,000  verses. 

It  seems  strange  that  the  extensive  prevalence  of  this  religion  should 
be  denied.  It  has  been  inferred  from  C'desar,  that  it  was  confined  to  a 
limited  portion  of  Gaul,  but  it  has  been  remarked  by  a  zealous  antiqua- 
ry, that,  although  Cajsar  says  of  the  Germans,  that  they  had  no  Druids, 
he  does  not  say  they  were  without  religion  or  priests.  He  mentions 
some  of  the  gods  they  revered,  and  these  were  the  same  as  the  Gauls 
worshipped.  Tacitus  also  does  not  appear  to  have  found  Druids  among 
the  Germans,  but  he  mentions  their  gods,  their  sacred  groves  and  altars, 
their  songs  and  their  ceremonies,  all  which  resembled  those  of  the  Gauls. 
The  religion  of  both  people  was,  therefore,  alike  Druidism,  although  its 
ministers  may  have  had  different  appellations,  and  its  mysteries  been 
somewhat  differently  solemnized.  Druidism  is  said  to  have  been  only 
partially  cultivated  in  part  of  South  Britain,  and  perfectly  unknown  in 
Ireland  :  these  assertions  are  certainly  rash  and  unwarrantable.  This 
system  of  religion  was  cherished  in  Britain  as  its  most  ancient  and  hal- 


*  Lib.  ix.  c.  25. 


448 


DRUIDISM. 


lowed  seat,  and  should  the  remarkable  passage  in  Diodorus,  concerning 
"the  round  temple  in  an  island  of  the  Hyperboreans, — opposite  Celti- 
ca, — where  was  a  magnificent  grove,  and  where  the  people  were  harp- 
ers," be  considered  inapplicable  to  Albion,  yet  the  fact  is  evident  from 
the  express  testimony  of  Ca3sar,  corroborated  by  Pliny,  that  the  youth 
of  Gaul  resorted  to  Britain  for  instruction  in  the  sacred  religion,  that 
they  spent  twenty  years  in  its  acquirement,  and  that  it  was  believed  to 
have  originated  there.  Mela,  indeed,  describes  the  Irish  as  extremely 
barbarous,  and  devoid  of  all  religion;  but  this  is  too  improbable  to  be  cred- 
ited, especially  when  he  allows  them  to  have  had  those  he  calls  magi- 
cians, whom  Ware  considers  Druids.  That  they  could  be  no  other  is 
evident,  for  dry  is  the  Gaelic  term  for  a  magician,  a  philosopher  and 
prophet;  and  Alfric,  in  his  Saxon  glossary,  says  magi  were  so  called 
even  by  the  Angles.*  On  the  conversion  of  Edwin,  king  of  Northum- 
berland, he  summoned  all  his  counsellors,  among  whom  appeared  the 
high  priest  Coefi.  There  is  a  proverb  still  in  use  by  the  Highlanders, 
which  extols  a  person  as  being  "  as  dextrous  as  Coefi,  the  Arch  Druid;" 
and  Doctor  Mac  Pherson  observes,  that  coifi-dry,  is  well  known  to  mean 
a  person  of  extraordinary  sense  and  cunning.  Druidh  is  still  used  in 
Gaelic  for  wise  men,  from  which  is  Druithnich  or  Drui,  servants  of  truth, 
and  the  Teutonic  Druid  or  Druthin.|  The  usual  etymon  of  this  word 
is  attended  with  some  difficulty.  It  is  derived  from  Sqvc,  an  oak,  in 
Welsh  derw,  in  Gaelic  darach,  &c.  It  is  improbable  that  the  Celts 
should  have  distinguished  their  magi  by  a  Greek  word,  and  the  Gaelic 
derivation  is  not  very  plain.  Menage  believes  it  came  from  the  old 
British  word  drus,  a  magician,  and  Keysler  says  draoi  is  a  magician  or 
enchanter.  Mr.  Grant,  of  Corrimony,  will  have  the  name  Draothian, 
which  shows  the  root  of  a  series  of  words.  Draoneach  is  an  improver 
of  the  soil,  and  this  being  the  first  way  in  which  man  exerted  his  inge- 
nuity, it  came  to  signify  an  artist  or  clever  person,  in  which  sense  the 
Irish  still  use  it.  The  rational  belief  is,  therefore,  that  the  name  of  this 
celebrated  order  imported  their  abilities,  and  is  one  of  that  class  of  words 
formed  on  the  D  and  R,  which  seem  to  have  conveyed  the  idea  of  dex- 
terity and  superior  qualifications. 

The  Druidic  religion  does  not  appear  to  have  been  either  "  a  late  in- 
vention, or  confined  to  the  South  of  Britain  and  North  of  Gaul,"  but  is 
maintained  to  have  been  observed  and  taught  throughout  the  Island, 
contrary  to  the  assertion  of  Pinkerton,  who  charges  those  who  say  there 
were  Druids  in  Scotland,  with  speaking  "  utter  nonsense." 

The  Druids  taught  their  disciples,  and  performed  their  religious  rites 
in  the  deep  recesses  of  woods  and  in  caves.  The  Germans  consecrated 
whole  groves  and  woods,  which  were  named  from  the  gods,  and  amid 
the  gloom  and  quiet  of  this  seclusion,  they  contemplated  their  divinities 
in  deep  reverence. J    Within  these  groves,  which  were  generally  on 

*  Waldron's  History  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  t  Doctors  Smith  and  Mac  Pherson. 

t  Tacitus. 


REPRESENTATIONS  OF  GODS 


449 


conspicuous  situations,  were  raised  their  rude  but  impressive  temples, 
where,  on  festivals,  the  people  met  in  great  numbers.*  The  practice 
of  surrounding  places  of  worship  with  trees  was  usual  among  all  pagan 
nations,  hence  the  Jews  were  particularly  enjoined  not  to  plant  a  grove 
of  any  kind  near  unto  the  altar  of  the  Lord."!"  In  2nd  Kings  we  find 
mention  of  the  "  women  who  wove  hangings  for  the  groves."  They 
were  the  places  where  the  statues  of  the  gods  were  set  up.  Pausanias 
mentions  the  sacred  grove  of  Apollo,  called  Carneus,  and  many  others; 
part  of  which  were  inclosed  by  a  bulwark  of  stones,  being  the  most  sa- 
cred spot  where  the  statues  of  the  divinities  were  placed,  and  which  is 
always  distinguished  from  the  "  uncovered  part."  There  was  a  grove 
and  temple  at  Pergamos;  and  that  of  Jupiter  Ammon  was  surrounded 
by  trees. J 

There  seems  to  have  prevailed  among  all  rude  nations  a  predilection 
for  circular  formed  temples,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  the  upright 
stones  which  composed  them  were  simply  viewed  as  the  boundary  of  the 
sacred  precinct,  or  were  considered  representations  of  gods.  From  the 
following  observation  of  Pausanias,  and  other  passages  in  ancient  au- 
thors, it  would  appear  that  there  was  a  peculiar  sanctity  attached  to 
them.  "  Near  Pharce  are  thirty  quadrangular  stones,  which  the  Pha- 
renses  venerate."  It  was  anciently  held  unbecoming  by  the  Celts  to 
represent  the  gods  under  any  other  form  than  that  of  a  rude  and  shape- 
less obelisk,  and  this  feeling  was  common  to  the  early  Grecians,  it  being 
formerly  the  custom  with  all  the  Greeks  to  reverence  rude  stones,  in 
place  of  statues  of  the  gods.  The  Thespians  preserved  an  ancient  statue 
of  Love,  that  was  but  a  rude  block. ^  A  square  unpolished  stone  was 
also  a  symbol  of  Bacchus,  and  a  round  one  that  of  the  earth.  || 

The  Celts  did  not  presume  to  represent  any  of  their  deities  under  the 
human  form,  but  typified  them  by  various  articles.  The  images  of  wild 
beasts  and  other  animals,  as  well  as  inanimate  objects,  the  symbols  of 
their  gods,  they  were  accustomed  to  bring  from  their  sacred  groves,  and 
use  as  insignia  during  war.  After  their  subjugation  to  Rome  they  ap- 
parently imitated  their  conquerors,  and  allowed  their  gods  to  be  repre- 
sented under  terrestrial  forms; — those  Gallic  and  other  statues  that  have 
been  discovered  being  referable  to  an  era  subsequent  to  that  event. 
Gildas  speaks  of  some  of  the  statues  of  the  British  deities  being  to  be 
seen  in  the  sixth  century,  when  he  wrote.  That  of  Isis,  the  tutelary 
goddess  of  Paris,  remained  in  the  Abbey  of  St.  Germain  des  Priz  until 
1514,  when  it  was  removed  by  the  order  of  the  Bishop  of  Meaux.lT 

The  circular  form  of  the  Celtic  temples  was  probabiy  typical  of  eter- 
nity, and  of  the  deity.  It  was  religiously  adhered  to  as  the  general 
plan,  and  has  given  rise  to  names  by  which  places  of  worship  have  been 
distinguished  even  to  our  own  times.  The  Gaelic  cearcal  is  evidently 
the  origin  of  the  Latin  circus,  the  old  English  chirch,  and  the  Scot- 

*  Floms,  iii.  10.  t  Deuter.  xvi.  21.       t  Diod.  xvii.  5. 

§  Pausanias,  lib.  vii.  22.  ix.  27.        ||  Beloe.  If  Religion  des  Gauls. 

57 


4d0 


ABURT  AND  STONEHENGE. 


ish  kirk,  which  is  spelt  according  to  its  pronunciation.    In  like  man 
ner,  as  the  primitive  temple  was  composed  of  large  stones,  it  was  term- 
ed clachan  by  the  Gael,  from  which  the  Latin  ecclesia  is  apparently  de- 
rived; and  the  Highlanders  to  this  day  use  the  expression,  calling  the 
church  "  the  stones!  " 

The  most  astonishing  temple,  in  point  of  magnitude,  in  Britain  is  that 
of  Abury,  or  Avebury,  in  Wiltshire.  The  area  of  this  astonishing  work 
contained  upwards  of  acres,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  wide  and  deep 
ditch,  and  rampart  measuring  about  70  feet  in  height  from  the  bottom. 
One  hundred  stones  of  amazing  size  formed  an  outer  circle,  within  which 
were  two  others  not  concentric,  formed  of  double  rows  of  stones.  Of 
these  the  outer  contained  thirty,  and  the  inner  twelve.  In  the  centre  of 
one  were  three  stones,  and  in  the  other  was  a  single  obelisk  which  mea- 
sured twenty-one  feet  in  length,  and  eight  feet  nine  inches  in  breadth. 
Besides  the  circles,  which  we  thus  see  contained  the  number  of  188 
stones,  there  were  two  extended  avenues  which  are  supposed  to  have 
contained  462  more,  making  a  total  of  650! 

Stonehenge,  in  the  same  county,  must  yield  in  magnificence  to  Abu- 
ry, but  if  much  less  in  size,  it  is  greatly  superior  in  the  architectural 
science  which  it  displays.  This  wonderful  structure,  as  shown  in  the 
vignette,  where  it  is  represented  as  it  is  supposed  to  have  appeared  when 
in  its  pristine  grandeur,  was  circular,  but  much  smaller  and  of  much 
more  ingenious  construction,  than  Abury.  A  consideration  of  this  has 
given  rise  to  an  opinion  first,  I  believe,  expressed  by  Mr.  Warner,  that 
the  latter  being  the  rudest  and  apparently  the  most  ancient,  was  the 
grand  temple  of  the  original  Celts,  whilst  Stonehenge  was  erected  by 
the  Belgians,  when  they  obtained  possession  of  the  Southern  parts  of 
the  Island,  and  was  intended  as  a  rival  to  the  other;  the  deep  ditch  cal- 
led Wansdike,  supposed  to  be  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two 
people,  passing  between  these  two  astonishing  monuments.  This  is  very 
ingenious,  but  it  is,  of  course,  entirely  suppositious.  We  do  not  find 
that  the  Belgians  were  better  able  to  raise  such  a  temple  than  the  Celts, 
and  we  do  not  find  that  the  two  people  had  different  forms  of  their  places 
of  worship.  It  is,  besides,  conjectured,  with  much  probability,  that 
Stonehenge  was  reared  at  different  periods,  the  outward  circle  and  the 
inner  oval  of  trilithons  being  one  erection,  and  the  smaller  circle  and 
oval  of  inferior  stones  being  another.  This  opinion  is  borne  out  by  the 
fact  that  the  latter  are  granite  whilst  the  others  are  not;  but  antiquaries 
have  come  to  opposite  conclusions  respecting  the  priority  of  erection, 
some  believing  that  the  outward  circle  was  the  original  work,  and  others 
that  the  inner,  and  more  simple  design,  must  have  been  the  first  formed. 
This  last  idea  appears  reasonable;  and  although  the  granite  stones  must 
have  been  brought  from  a  considerable  distance,  with  such  a  people 
it  was  no  obstacle  to  their  adoption  at  any  era.  It  is  against  the  hypo- 
thesis of  Stonehenge  having  been  erected  by  a  nation  in  hostility  with 
the  Celts,  that  the  outward  stones  must  have  been  brought  from  the 


CLASSERNESS. 


451 


Northern  part  of  the  country,  beyond  the  frontier  Hne  of  the  Belgian 
territory. 

When  the  light  of  history  fails  us,  we  may  indulge  our  fancies,  and 
form  plausible  and  delightful  conjectures,  but  as  there  is  an  illimitable 
field  for  the  imagination  to  wander,  it  is  evident  that  it  may  run  some- 
times into  the  wildest  conceits.  The  state  in  which  Stonehenge  is  found, 
and  in  which  it  has  remained  with  apparently  little  alteration  from  time 
immemorial,  has  left  ample  room  for  antiquaries  to  exert  their  ingenuity 
in  endeavoring  to  deter^mine  its  original  plan  and  appearance. 

The  restoration  of  this  wonderful  pile  is,  according  to  Waltire,  an  en- 
thusiastic old  philosopher,  who  actually  encamped  and  remained  on  the 
ground  beside  this  temple  for  several  months,  to  satisfy  his  curiosity  and 
complete  his  investigations  concerning  its  appropriation.  It  is  much  to 
be  regretted  that  the  papers  of  this  deep-thinking  and  veracious  antiqua- 
ry were  lost  after  his  death.  Some  account  of  his  opinions  concerning 
it  may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Higgins'  work;  it  need  only  be  here  observed 
that  the  view  gives  an  idea  of  this  work  which  could  not  be  done  in 
words.  According  to  Waltire 's  plan  the  outer  range  of  uprights  consists 
of  thirty.  The  inner  trilithons,  according  to  all,  were  five,  to  which  he 
adds  six  smaller  stones,  as  a  continuation  towards  the  entrance.  The 
intermediate  circle  consists  of  thirty-eight,  and  the  semi-circular  range 
inside  he  makes  nineteen.  Thus  with  the  altar,  and  reckoning  the  im- 
posts, the  whole  number  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine.*  The  height 
of  the  outward  stones  is  in  the  highest  about  thirteen  feet,  and  six  or 
seven  in  breadth,  and,  contrary  to  what  we  find  in  similar  erections,  the 
stones  have  been  formed  by  the  tool,  the  imposts  being  secured  by  ten- 
ons, and  one  stone  is  found  formed  with  a  rib,  or  moulding. 

The  most  remarkable  character  of  Stonehenge  consists  of  the  imposts, 
no  similar  structure  in  Britain  appearing  to  have  ever  been  erected  in 
this  way,  and  except  a  circle  at  Drenthiem,  and  another  on  a  mountain 
near  Helmstad,  represented  in  Keysler's  work  on  Northern  Antiqui- 
ties, there  is  perhaps  no  other  instance  of  the  trilithon  style.  In  these 
examples  the  incumbent  stones  appear  heavy,  partaking  more  of  the 
character  of  cromleachs,  and  the  temples  are  by  no  means  equal  to 
Stonehenge  either  in  design  or  execution. 

The  remarkable  temple  at  Classerness,  in  the  Isle  of  Lewis,  is  repre- 
sented at  the  end  of  this  Chapter.  This  'singular  monument  is  placed 
north  and  south,  and  consists  of  an  avenue  five  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
feet  long,  eight  feet  wide,  and  composed  of  thirty-nine  stones,  generally 
six  or  seven  feet  high,  with  one  at  the  entrance,  no  less  than  thirteen. 
At  the  south  end  of  this  walk  is  a  circle  of  sixty-three  feet  diameter,  that 
appears  to  have  been  composed  of  either  thirteen  or  fifteen  stones,  six  to 
eight  feet  in  height,  the  centre  being  occupied  by  an  obelisk  thirteen 
feet  high,  and  shaped  somewhat  like  a  chair.  Beyond  the  circle  seve- 
ral stones  are  carried  in  right  lines,  producing  a  cruciform  appearance. 

*  Plan  in  the  "  Celtic  Druids.' 


452 


CARNAC. 


The  length  of  this  cross  part  is  two  hundred  and  four  feet,  and  the  total 
of  stones  appears  to  have  been  sixty-eight  or  seventy.  Borlase,  it  may 
be  noticed,  makes  them  fifty-two,  and  Mac  CuUoch  forty-seven.  The 
magnitude  and  singularity  of  this  work  has  led  several  antiquaries  to 
believe  that  it  is  the  very  Hyperborean  temple  spoken  of  by  the  ancients. 
Conjecture  seems  to  lie  between  Abury,  Stonehenge,  and  Classerness, 
except  we  think  with  D'Alton,  the  late  writer  on  Irish  History,  that  the 
round  temple  of  the  Hyperborei  means  the  round  towers  of  Ireland.  It  is 
remarkable  that  Eratosthenes  says,  Apollo  hid  iiis  arrow  where  there 
was  a  winged  temple.  The  cross  parts,  resemblmg  the  transepts  of  a 
cathedral,  are,  I  believe,  peculiar  to  Classerness,  and  may  very  well 
bear  the  appellation  of  wings. 

The  plain  of  Chlara,  a  mile  eastward  of  Culloden,  in  Inverness-shire, 
is  remarkable  for  being  full  of  circles,  surrounded  by  "  rows  of  immense 
slabs  of  sandstone."  Some  account  of  remarkable  objects  of  this  sort, 
with  original  drawings  made  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  London  by 
the  author,  have  been  thought  worthy  of  being  engraved  and  printed  in 
the  twenty-second  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  that  learned  body. 
There  are  many  other  curious  monuments  of  the  same  kind  scattered 
throughout  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  England;  but  all  Celtic  monuments 
now  in  existence  must  yield  to  that  stupendous  work  at  Carnac,  in  Brit- 
tany. This  truly  astonishing  memorial  of  a  distant  race,  exhibits  a  tract 
of  not  less  than  five  or  six  miles,  on  which  are  placed,  at  distances  of  18, 
20,  or  25  feet,  eleven  rows  of  stones,  chiefly  planted  on  the  smallest  end, 
forming  ten  avenues,  or  walks,  of  12,  24,  18^,  ISJ,  30,  30,  36,  36,  30-|-, 
and  36  feet  in  width  respectively,  the  whole  resembling  a  huge  serpent, 
as  shown  in  a  plan  engraved  in  the  above  volume.  This  vast  assemblage 
of  stones  is  so  astonishing  that  many  have  considered  it  impossible  for 
human  hands  to  arrange  them,  and  believe  it  to  be  the  effects  of  some 
convulsion  of  nature;  but  however  much  we  may  be  amazed  at  the  mag- 
nitude of  Carnac,  it  is  assuredly  an  artificial  erection.  The  reason  for  a 
departure  from  the  usual  circular  form  it  seems  impossible  to  discover, 
but  the  hypothesis  of  Cambray,  Penhouet,  and  others,  are  ingenious. 
The  authors  of  the  "Celtic  Druids"  and  "  Hermes  Britannicus"  sug- 
gest the  idea  that  the  number  of  stones  indicated  the  years  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  Druids,  had  passed  from  the  creation.  The  number  of  stones 
now  remaining  being  about  4000,  is  found  to  agree  very  nearly  with  the 
age  of  the  world,  but  it  must  be  observed  that  in  its  original  state  they 
are  believed  to  have  equalled  10,000.  Whatever  credit  may  be  attach- 
ed to  it,  the  tradition  is,  that  a  stone  was  added  every  year  at  Midsum- 
mer, on  which  occasion  the  whole  pile  was  illuminated,  a  practice  that 
points  to  the  worship  of  Belus.  That  it  was  consecrated  to  this  deity 
also  may  be  inferred  from  the  tradition  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  Cri  - 
ons,  surely  a  name  derived  from  Grianus,  the  Celtic  term  for  the  sun.  On 
this  subject  the  opinion  of  Olaus  Magnus  may  be  stated,  which  appears  to 
savor  too  much  of  fancy.    If  stones  are  arranged  in  a  circle,  they  denote 


CELTIC  DEITIES. 


453 


a  family  burial-place;  if  in  a  right  line,  the  battle  of  heroes;  in  a  square, 
troops  of  warriors  were  represented;  and  in  a  wedge  form,  they  imported 
that  on  or  near  the  spot,  armies  of  horse  or  foot  were  victorious. 

That  the  Celts  worshipped  in  circular  temples  formed  of  rude  stones 
is  indisputable;  because  we  find  the  circular  inclosures  used  until  late 
times  for  courts  of  law  as  well  as  places  of  worship,  and  although  the 
time  when  some  of  them  were  actually  built  be  known,  we  are  not,  there- 
fore, justified  in  denying  their  original  appropriation.  As  the  Celtic 
priests  were  legislators,  the  temple  was  the  place  whence  they  promul- 
gated their  laws,  and  on  the  abolition  of  paganism,  although  discouraged, 
the  use  of  the  circle  for  this  purpose,  and  for  worship,  was  long  retained. 
Christianity  did  not  at  first  deny  the  use  of  the  place  of  worship  for  judi- 
cial purposes;  but,  gaining  ground,  an  express  canon  of  the  Scotish 
church  prohibited  courts  from  being  held  in  churches,  for  they  were 
usually  erected  on  the  sites  of  temples;  and  I  am  convinced  that  when 
the  Christian  edifice  ceased  to  be  the  place  where  civil  matters  were 
decided,  as  had  been  the  practice  in  pagan  times,  the  laws  or  moot-hills 
were  substituted,  and  hence  it  is  that  these  mounts  are  so  generally 
found  in  the  close  vicinity  of  churches.  Where,  however,  zeal  for  Chris- 
tianity did  not  lead  to  the  destruction  of  circles  and  their  condemnation 
as  places  of  meeting,  they  continued  to  be  used  as  courts,  especially  by 
the  Northern  nations,  until  very  late  times;  and  from  the  circumstance 
of  surrounding  the  circle,  after  the  meeting  had  assembled,  the  term  of 
"  fencing  a  court,"  in  all  probability,  is  derived.  One  of  the  latest  in- 
stances of  this  appropriation  of  "  the  standing  stones"  occurs  in  1380, 
when  Alexander  Stewart,*Lord  of  Badenach,  held  a  court  at  those  of  the 
Rath  of  Kingusie. 

The  chief  seat  of  Druidism  on  the  continent,  Cossar  tells  us,  was  in 
the  country  of  the  Carnutes,  supposed  to  have  been  where  the  city  of 
Chartres  now  stands. 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  principal  Celtic  deity  was  the  sun,  Belus, 
Belenus,  or  Baal,  Herodian*  says,  the  Aquileians  worshipped  this  god, 
whom  they  considered  the  same  as  Apollo,  whence  we  see  why  the  Hy- 
perborei  especially  venerated  him,  for  he  was  the  personification  of  that 
luminary.  The  Caledonians  worshipped  this  deity  under  the  name  of 
Baal,  or  Beil,  and  to  his  honor  they  lighted  fires  on  Midsummer-day,  or 
the  1st  of  May.  This  festival,  which  is  not  even  yet  discontinued,  was 
called  Baal-tein,  or  beltain,  signifying  the  fire  of  Baal,  and  was  former- 
ly commemorated  so  generally  that  it  became  a  term  in  Scots'  law,  which 
is  yet  in  use.  This  practice  of  lighting  fires  on  Midsummer,  arose  from 
the  circumstance  of  the  Druids  having  at  that  time  caused  all  fires  to  oe 
extinguished,  to  be  rekindled  from  the  sacred  fire  that  was  never  allow- 
ed to  expire.  It  is  surprising  that  this  sacred  flame,  like  that  in  the 
temple  of  Vesta,  should  be  preserved  for  ages  after  the  extinction  of  the 
religion,  by  Christian  priests.    It  was  no  earlier  than  1220,  that  Loun- 


"  Lib.  viii. 


454 


SACRED  FIRE. 


dres,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  extinguished  the  perpetual  fire,  which  waa 
kept  m  a  small  cell  near  the  church  of  Kildare;  but  so  firmly  rooted  was 
the  veneration  for  this  fire,  that  it  was  relighted  in  a  few  years,  and  ac- 
tually kept  burning  until  the  suppression  of  monasteries!*  This  fire 
was  attended  by  virgins,  often  women  of  quality,  called  Inghean  an 
Dagha,  daughters  of  fire,  and  Breochuidh,  or  the  fire-keepers,  from  which 
they  have  been  confounded  with  the  nuns  of  St.  Brigid.  A  writer  in 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1795,  says,  being  in  Ireland  the  day  before 
Midsummer,  he  was  told  that  in  the  evening  he  should  see  "  the  lighting 
of  the  fires  in  honor  of  the  sun"  at  midnight;  and  Riche  describes  the 
preparation  for  the  festival  in  these  words;  "what  watching,  what  rat- 
tling, what  tinkling  upon  pannes  and  candlesticks,  what  strewing  of 
hearbes,  what  clamors,  and  other  ceremonies  are  used,"  and  all  this 
apparently  in  Dublin  itself  Spenser  says,  on  kindling  a  fire  the  Irish 
always  made  a  prayer.  A  practice  of  the  cooks  at  Newcastle,  who  light 
bonfires  on  Midsummer-day,  may  be  derived  from  the  Beltain  rites;  and 
the  chimney-sweeps  of  London  and  other  parts  who  go  in  procession  and 
dance  in  grotesque  dresses,  appear  to  represent  the  ancient  fire  worship- 
pers at  their  holiday  amusements. 

Graine,  Grein,  or  Grannus,  was  a  term  for  this  god  among  the  Cale- 
donians, and  an  inscription  to  him  was  found  in  the  ruins  of  Antonine's 
wall. I  The  word  is  gre-theim,  the  t  being  quiescent,  and  it  signifies  the 
essence  or  natural  source  of  fire.  Camden  says,  Grannus  is  of  similar 
import  with  Gruagach,  a  supernatural  being,  latterly  distinguished  among 
the  Scots  as  a  Brownie;  and  he  quotes  Isodore  to  show  that  the  long  hair 
of  the  Goths  was  called  granni,  which  it  is  aj^arent  is  neither  more  nor 
less  than  the  Gaelic  word.  The  sun,  distinguished  as  the  source  of  fire, 
became  known  by  a  natural  change,  as  the  yellow,  or  golden  haired, 
and  the  libations  of  milk  were  always  offered  on  the  granni,  or  gruagach 
stone,  of  which  there  was  one  in  every  village,  on  days  consecrated  to 
the  sun.  The  singular  method  of  raising  the  tein-egin,  or  need-fire,  has 
been  described,  and  the  virtues  which  it  is  supposed  to  possess,  in  page 
293.  The  Highlanders  passed  through  the  fire  to  Baal  as  the  ancient 
Gentiles  did;  and  they  thought  it  a  religious  duty  to  walk  round  their 
fields  and  flocks  with  burning  matter  in  their  right  hands,  a  practice 
once  universal  throughout  the  country.  The  Northern  nations  had  an 
equal  veneration  for  fire,  preserving  it  continually  on  their  altars.  Pio- 
run  was  the  chief  god  of  the  Poles,  and  two  places  where  h^  was  wor- 
shipped are  known.  At  Wilna,  where  one  of  them  was  situated,  the 
altar  is  still  preserved  in  the  cathedral;  and  it  is  related  that  his  image 
stood  under  an  oak  with  a  fire  constantly  burning  before  it.  The  Poles 
became  Christians  only  in  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century. + 

It  appears  to  have  been  in  imitation  of  the  sun's  course  that  the  Gael 
religiously  observed,  in  their  rites  and  common  occupations,  to  make 

*  Archdall's  Mon.  Hib.  ap.  Anth.  Hib.  iii.  240.  t  Mac  Pherson's  Diss.  xvii. 

+  Letters  from  Poland. 


CELTIC  DEITIES. 


456 


the  deisal,  or  turn  to  the  right  hand.  Pliny,  it  is  to  be  observed,  says 
that  the  Gauls,  in  worshipping,  contrary  to  the  practice  of  other  nations, 
always  turned  to  the  left,  but  Possidonius  and  others  expressly  say  to 
the  right,  a  reconciliation  of  which  apparent  inconsistency  is  attempted 
by  D.  Martin,  in  his  Religion  des  Gauls. 

Between  Badenach  and  Strathspey  is  Slia-grannus,  the  heath  of  gran- 
nus,  called  by  the  inhabitants  griantachd,  which  has  undoubtedly  been 
a  magh-aoraidh,  or  field  where  Druidical  worship  was  performed.  The 
sun  was  believed  to  be  propitious  to  the  high  minded  warrior.  In  the 
work  of  Dr.  Smith,  Grian  is  thus  addressed:  "Thou  delightest  to  shed 
thy  beams  on  the  clouds  which  enrobe  the  brave,  and  to  spread  thy  rays 
around  the  tombs  of  the  valiant."  It  was  also  a  belief  that  the  world 
should  be  consumed  by  this  deity:  and  la  bhrath,  the  day  of  burning,  now 
understood  of  the  last  judgment,  came,  from  the  improbability  or  re- 
moteness of  the  catastrophe,  to  be  translated  "  never."  Connected  with 
this  belief  seems  the  clachan  bhrath,  a  globular  stone,  still  viewed  with 
superstitious  feelings  in  the  Islands  of  lona  and  Garveloch. 

A  fire  having  originated  among  the  luhones,  and  consumed  the  woods 
to  the  walls  of  Cologne,  the  people  collected  and  attacked  the  devouring 
element  first  with  stones  at  a  distance,  which  appearing  to  check  its  rage, 
they  ventured  closer,  and,  using  clubs,  they  ultimately  repulsed  and  sub- 
dued it.  Finally,  we  are  told,  they  smothered  it  entirely  by  means  of  their 
clothes.  All  this  apparent  madness  must  have  arisen  from  their  belief 
that  they  were  contending  with  supernatural  beings,  and  it  is  not  more 
absurd  than  many  actions  of  the  old  Highlanders. 

Csesar  has  said  that  the  Gauls  paid  their  highest  veneration  to  Mer- 
cury; to  which  opinion  he  may  have  been  led  by  having  a  better  oppor- 
tunity of  observing  his  worship,  for  his  attributes  being  numerous,  he 
must  have  had  many  devotees,  as  the  Virgin  Mary,  among  the  ignorant 
Catholics,  receives  often  more  attention  than  the  Saviour  himself  The 
god  whom  Caesar  calls  Mercury,  was  Tout,  or  Theuth,  Dhu  taith,  or 
Teutates,  i.  e.  the  god  Taute,  who  was  no  other  than  the  Taatus  of  the 
Phoenicians.  The  word  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  Armoric 
Tad,  or  Tat,  a  father.  The  Gallo-Belgic  name  for  Teutates,  Schoepflin 
says,  was  Wodan,  who  was  worshipped  by  the  Saxons.  They  also 
adored  Hermes,  or  Mercury,  under  the  name  of  Irmin,  or  Ermensul,  a 
statue  of  whom  was  found  at  Eresburg,  by  Charlemagne. 

The  Gauls  derived  their  origin  from  Dis,  a  god  that  has  been  assimi- 
lated with  Pluto,  but  who  is  with  more  reason  believed  to  have  been  the 
earth,  or  its  elements,  and  the  same  being  as  the  German  Tuisto,  or 
Tuitos,  from  whom  that  people  alleged  themselves  to  be  sprung. 

We  learn  from  Tacitus,  that  the  Aviones,  Angles,  Varinians,  Eudoses, 
Sec,  universally  worshipped  Herthum,  Hertre,  or  Mother  Earth;  believ- 
ing she  visited  countries,  and  interposed  in  human  affairs.  In  an  island 
of  the  ocean  was  the  wood  Castum,  where  was  a  chariot  dedicated 
to  the  goddess,  covered  with  a  curtain,  and  not  permitted  to  be  touched 


456 


CELTIC  DEITIES. 


but  by  the  priest,  who  watched  the  time  when  she  entered  the  car,  which 
M-as  always  drawn  by  cows,  and  with  profound  veneration  attended  its 
motions.  In  all  places  which  she  deigned  to  visit  were  great  feasts  and 
rejoicings,  and  every  warlike  instrument  was  then  carefully  put  out  of 
the  way,  and  peace  and  repose  were  then  proclaimed.  When  tired  of 
conversation  with  mortals,  the  same  priests  reconducted  her  to  the  tem- 
ple. Then  the  chariot  and  the  curtains,  and  even  the  deity  herself,  if 
you  believe  it,  adds  the  historian,  were  washed  and  purified  in  a  secret 
lake.  In  this  office  slaves  officiated,  who  were  doomed  to  be  afterwards 
swallowed  up  in  the  same  lake;  hence  all  men  were  possessed  with  a 
mysterious  terror,  as  well  as  with  a  holy  ignorance,  what  that  must  be 
which  none  see  but  such  as  are  immediately  to  perish.  "  The  Truce 
of  God,"  so  often  and  so  effectually  proclaimed  by  the  clergy  about  the 
eleventh  century,  was  an  obvious  imitation  of  the  procession  of  the  god- 
dess Earth,  which  in  pagan  times  took  place  in  the  territories  of  present 
Mecklenburg.  The  appeal  to  Hertha  was  made  by  passing  under  a 
strip  of  green  sod,  as  before  described. 

Mannus  was  celebrated  among  the  Germans  as  one  of  their  founders, 
being  the  son  of  Tuisto.  Mannus,  according  to  Clarke,  is  the  same  as 
Manes,  which  Menage  on  Loertius  says  was  used  by  the  Greeks  for  a 
servant. 

The  iEstii,  says  Tacitus,  worship  the  mother  of  the  gods;  and,  as  the 
characteristic  of  their  superstition,  they  wear  the  images  of  wild  boars, 
by  which  every  worshipper  of  the  goddess  is  secured  from  danger  even 
amid  his  foes.  The  Germans  also  wore,  in  veneration  of  their  gods,  a 
shackle  round  their  leg.*  Of  the  Suevi  we  are  told  the  Semnones  reck- 
oned themselves  most  noble  and  ancient,  and  the  belief  of  their  antiqui- 
ty was  confirmed  by  religious  mysteries.  At  a  certain  time  of  the  year 
all  the  people  descended  from  the  same  stock,  assembled  by  their  depu- 
ties in  a  wood,  consecrated  by  their  fathers,  and  by  superstitious  awe  in 
times  of  old,  and  began  there  their  worship  by  sacrificing  a  man.  To 
this  grove  another  sort  of  veneration  was  paid;  no  one  entered  it  unless 
bound;  from  that  circumstance  evincing  his  own  subordination  and  mean- 
ness, and  the  power  of  the  deity.  If  any  one  fell  down  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  rise  or  be  lifted  up,  but  grovelled  along  on  the  ground.  They 
believed  that  in  that  place  God  resided,  that  from  this  place  they  drew 
their  origin,  and  that  all  things  are  subject  to  the  deity. 

Mars  is  placed  by  Ceesar  the  third  in  the  list  of  five  gods,  which,  he 
says,  the  Gauls  adored.  This  god,  to  whom  the  Scyths  paid  the  high- 
est honor,  is  believed  to  be  the  Esus,  or  Hesus,  of  the  Gauls,  mentioned  by 
Lucan,  who  was  called,  according  to  Leibnitz,  Erich  by  the  Germans; 
and  a  sculpture  of  whom  was  to  be  seen  in  the  cathedral  of  Paris  in 
1711.  The  Britons  called  this  being  Belatucadro,  or,  according  to 
Richard  of  Cirencester,  Vitucadrus.  The  first  appellation  is  derived 
from  Beladuw,  the  god,  Cadwyr,  of  Wars.     There  was  also  Malseen, 


*  Nen.  Brit.  p.  41. 


CELTIC  DEITIES. 


457 


the  Goddess  of  War.  Before  a  battle,  the  spoils  of  the  enemy  were  de- 
voted to  the  gods  of  destruction;*  and  Porevith  was  the  German  god  of 
spoils.  On  one  occasion  the  Gauls  vowed  to  Mars  a  chain  made  of  the 
plunder  of  the  Romans. "f"  To  this  deity  they  devoutly  offered  up  the  cat- 
tle and  other  spoils  which  were  deposited  in  consecrated  places  throughout 
their  provinces,  where  might  be  seen  vast  stores  piled  up,  for  no  one  con- 
cealed any  part  of  the  plunder,  or  presumed  to  touch  that  which  was  thus 
disposed  of    Those  temples  were  at  last  rifled  by  Cassar. 

The  Gauls  worshipped  Taran,  or  Tanar,  who  was  the  god  of  thunder, 
and  corresponds  to  the  Jupiter  Tonans  of  the  Romans.  Torran  signi- 
fies, among  the  present  Highlanders,  the  low  murmur  of  distant  thunder ; 
taruinach  is  applied  to  the  loudest  peals;  and  torneonach  is  an  uncom- 
mon noise.  Doctor  Mac  Pherson  thinks  the  name  may  be  Nd'  air  neo- 
nach,  or  wrathful  father.  In  Cheshire  an  altar  was  found  inscribed  D. 
O.  M.  Tanaro,  to  the  great  Jupiter  Tanarus. 

The  British  god  of  justice  was  called  Andraste,  according  to  Richard 
of  Cirencester,  who  tells  us  he  had  his  information  from  a  dux  Roman- 
orum ;  but  he  seems  to  make  two  gods  out  of  one,  when  he  says  that  An- 
dates  was  victory.  This  last  was  the  Andate,  or  Andraste  of  Dio,  to 
whom  four  places  of  worship  were  consecrated  in  the  Isle  of  Sky.  J 

Nehelania,  supposed  to  have  been  the  new  moon,  was  a  goddess  wor- 
shipped by  Gauls  and  Germans,  and  at  Brittenburg,  near  the  Rhine,  a 
stone  was  found,  dedicated  to  Nehelania  Creta,  which  would  make  it 
appear  that  she  presided  over  agriculture,  in  which  case,  Nehelenia  of 
Marl  would  correspond  to  the  Anu  of  the  Irish,  and  Anactis  of  the  Scots, 
to  whose  immediate  care  the  productions  of  the  earth  and  waters  were 
confided. 

Mona,  or  Mena,  who  was  worshipped  by  the  Sequani,  was  the  moon. 
The  Gael  blessed  the  beams  of  this  luminary  that  saved  them  from  the 
danger  of  precipices,  &c.  St.  Augustine  says,  that  the  Gallic  peasants  in- 
voked Mena  for  the  welfare  of  their  women.  The  influence  which  this  lu- 
minary is  supposed  to  have  over  the  human  destiny  is  a  remarkable  relic 
of  pagan  superstition.  The  old  Germans,  who  thought  when  the  moon 
was  in  eclipse,  it  had  become  angry  with  them,  were  little  less  credulous 
than  the  Scots,  who,  in  some  parts,  will  neither  marry  nor  engage  in  any 
undertaking  of  importance  until  that  planet  is  full. 

The  special  god  of  waters  was  called  Neithe,  an  appellation  derived 
from  a  word  signifying  to  wash  or  purify  with  water.  The  Celts  ven- 
erated lakes,  rivers,  and  fountains,  into  which  they  were  accustomed  to 
throw  offerings  of  gold  and  silver. §  The  Britons  entertained  the  same 
superstitious  feeling  concerning  water;  and  Adomnan  mentions  it  among 
the  Picts,  It  is  well  known  that  it  prevailed  among  the  Highlanders 
and  Scots  in  general,  until  very  lately,  and  the  common  people  yet  re- 
tain some  peculiar  notions  of  this  element  quite  unconnected  with  Chris- 


*  Tacitus'  Annals,  xii.  57. 
t  Dr.  Mac  Queen. 

58 


t  Florus,  ii.  4. 

§  Religion  des  Gauls,  i.  128. 


458 


CELTIC  DEITIES. 


tianity.  The  people  of  Lewis  anciently  sacrificed  to  a  sea  god  called 
Shony.  In  Strathspey  is  Loch  nan  Spioridan,  or  the  Lake  of  Spirits, 
being  the  residence  of  two,  namely,  the  horse  and  water-bull,  which 
sometimes  make  their  appearance.  The  mermaid  is  seen  before  floods, 
and  the  Marcach  sine,  or  rider  of  the  storm,  blows  the  waters  of  a  river 
or  lake  into  violent  waves  or  whirling  eddies.*  Well-worship  is  a  super- 
stition that  is  not  yet  entirely  eradicated,  it  being  customary  to  visit  cer- 
tain fountains  on  particular  days,  and  leave  on  the  margin  or  adjoining 
bushe^  bits  of  party-colored  rags,  pebbles,  or  pins,  the  representatives 
of  the  more  valuable  offerings  of  more  distant  times.  The  same  super- 
stition exists  in  Ireland;  and  statutes  expressly  prohibiting  the  practice 
were  passed  by  Edgar,  by  Canute,  and  even  by  Anselm  at  London,  in 
1102.  The  dedication  of  fountains  to  saints,  after  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  perpetuated  the  veneration  instilled  by  the  Druids,  who 
certainly  employed  water  in  their  ceremonies.  Pope  Gregory  writes  to 
Boniface,  the  German  apostle,  that  those  who  had  received  the  pagan 
baptism  only  should  be  rebaptized.l  The  rock  basins  seem  very  proba- 
bly designed  for  the  performance  of  this  rite.  A  fountain  was  often 
found  near  a  circle,  as  it  afterwards  was  in  the  vicinity  of  a  Christian 
church;  and  the  noise  of  a  distant  river  was  desirable. 

What  is  related  of  some  of  the  Celts,  who  are  represented  as  rushing 
into  the  floods  and  attacking  the  billows  sword  in  hand,  must  be  referred 
to  their  peculiar  mythological  notions.  From  this  must  be  deduced  the 
ordeal,  to  which  malefactors  were  subjected,  by  being  committed  to  the 
water,  there  to  be  judged  by  the  presiding  deity,  who,  if  guilty,  would 
refuse  to  receive  them,  but  if  otherwise,  would,  by  allowing  them  to 
sink,  show  that  they  were  accepted  by  the  god. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  divine  honor  should  be  paid  to  woods, 
-when  the  temples  were  surrounded  with  them  as  a  sacred  precinct.  Cer- 
tain beings  called  Dusii,  were  supposed  by  the  Celts  to  have  the 
dominion  of  certain  forests;  the  partiality  of  this  race  to  hunting,  for 
success  in  which  they  sacrificed  to  Diana,  and  the  uses  of  trees  as  a 
system  of  letters,  also  increased  their  veneration  to  forests.  The  Brit- 
ons appear  to  have  had  some  consecrated  to  victory.  The  Gauls  rever- 
enced the  winds,  and  gave  thanks  when  Circius,  or  the  N.  N.  W.  blew.J 
In  an  island  called  Sena,  opposite  to  the  Loire,  are  the  wives,  says  Stra- 
bo,  of  the  Samnitae,  possessed  with  Bacchic  fury,  who  sell  the  winds 
which  they  can  raise  by  songs,  to  mariners. §  The  deep  and  melancho- 
ly sound,  well  known  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  high  country,  that  precedes 
a  storm,  is  called  by  the  bards  "  the  spirit  of  the  mountain;"  and  it  was 
customary  for  a  Highlander,  when  roused  by  a  sudden  blast  of  wind,  to 
search  it  with  his  sword,  and  he  sometimes  imagined  he  discovered  the 
corpse  or  spirit  of  a  relation  just  dead. 

*  Stat.  Account,  xiii.  t  Keysler,  Ant.  de  Celt,  p.  313.  t  Seneca,  v.  17. 

§  Mela,  iii.  6.  The  Druids  and  Druidesses  of  this  island  were  burnt  by  Conan,  Duke 
of  Bretagne. — Rojoux'  Dues  des  Bretagne,  i.  135. 


CELTIC  DEITIES. 


459 


From  the  annals  of  Tacitus  we  find,  that  among  the  Naharvali,  a  sa- 
cred and  extremely  ancient  grove  was  shown  where  a  priest  habited  like 
a  woman  presided.  The  deity  which  was  there  worshipped  was  called 
Alcis,  and  as  the  followers  of  this  being  addressed  themselves  to  young 
men  and  to  brothers,  the  Romans  believed  that  they  worshipped  Castor 
and  Pollux. 

Hercules,  or  Ogmius,  was  worshipped  by  the  Gauls,  who  had  a  sin- 
gular opinion  of  his  attributes,  which  will  be  spoken  of  presently.  ^He 
was  reckoned  the  founder  of  the  city  of  AHse,  now  Arras,  and  to  this 
day,  says  Diodorus,  the  Celtae  have  a  great  respect  for  it  on  that  account. 
Tacitus  says,  the  Germans,  believing  he  had  been  in  their  country, 
chiefly  extolled  him  when  they  were  singing  the  Barditus,  or  chant  with 
which  they  advanced  to  battle:  a  decisive  proof,  by  the  by,  I  apprehend, 
of  the  identity  of  their  religion  with  that  of  the  Gauls.  Vulcan  is  also 
said  to  have  been  worshipped  by  the  Celts,  and  the  names  of  several 
other  gods  and  goddesses  may  be  seen  in  Montfaucon's  Antiquities  and 
elsewhere.  On  a  hill  at  Framont,  near  Lorraine,  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  sort  of  Gaulish  pantheon,  from  the  number  of  statues  and  other 
singular  antiquities  that  are  from  time  to  time  discovered. 

It  is  probable  that  the  different  nations  had  their  tutelary  deities,  for 
the  Celts,  although  originally  possessing  a  pure  religion  adoring  one 
supreme  god,  appear  in  time  to  have  brought  it  to  as  much  complexity 
as  their  neighbors  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Adomnan  speaks  of  the  Picts 
as  having  their  own  gods  and  magi,  or  priests,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
each  people  placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of  certain  beings,  as 
nations  afterwards  adopted  their  different  saints,  champions,  and  media- 
tors. 

Besides  the  circular  temples,  the  Celts  had  Cromleachs,  that  is,  huge 
stones  raised  on  several  others,  one  of  which  is  represented  at  the  com- 
mencement of  Chapter  III.  These  sometimes  form  a  rude  sort  of  cell, 
as  at  Maen  Cetti,  or  Kit's  Cotty  house,  in  Kent,  and  the  superincum- 
bent block  is  sometimes  of  very  large  dimensions.  One  at  Plas 
Newydd,  in  Anglesea,  measures  twelve  feet  by  thirteen  feet  two  inches 
where  broadest,  its  greatest  depth  being  five  feet;  so  that  it  cannot 
weigh  less  than  thirty  tons  seven  cwt.  Constantino  Tolmaen,  in  Corn- 
wall, contains  at  least  75  tons.  Tolmaen  is  usually  applied  to  a  stone 
that  is  perforated,  the  object  of  which  does  not  seem  to  be  well  known. 
Cromleach  is  said  to  be  a  punic  word,  signifying  the  bed  of' death,  by 
others  it  is  believed  to  signify  sloping  or  bending  stone.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  originally  called  Botal,  the  house  of  God;  and  Bethel, 
a  name  of  similar  import,  was  the  very  term  applied  by  Jacob  to  the 
pillar  which  he  set  up.  Ponderous  rocking  stones,  masses  that  are 
either  naturally  or  artificially  poised  on  so  small  a  point  that  a  slight 
effort  will  make  them  vibrate,  are  considered  druidical  works,  and  it  is 
not  improbable,  that  they  were;  but  a  mind  heated  with  bardic  enthusi- 
asm, will  refer  every  thing  curious  of  this  kind  to  the  Celtic  priesthood. 


460 


DRUIDS  BARDS,  AND  OVATES  — SKILL  IN  AUGURY. 


The  Druids  were  unfortunate  in  not  having  met  with  historians  to  hand 
down  to  posterity  their  singular  manners.  The  measures  they  took  have 
been  too  successful  in  preventing  their  secrets  from  being  divulged. 
Large  and  rude  obelisks,  sometimes  single,  and  sometimes  several 
together,  may  have  been  erected  by  them. 

The  religious  order  among  the  CeUs  was  divided  into  three  classes; 
namely,  the  Druids,  the  bards,  and  the  ovates,  vates  or  faidhs.  The 
first  were  the  chief  priests,  and  the  second  were  those  to  whom  the  com- 
pilation and  preservation  of  the  oral  chronicles  of  the  nation  were  espe- 
cially committed,  and  whose  duties  as  poets  and  musicians  have  been 
already  dilated  upon.  The  third  class,  sometimes  called  Eubiiges,  were 
prophets,  and  had  the  immediate  care  of  the  sacrifices.  They  contem- 
plated the  nature  of  things,  as  the  ancients  expressed  themselves,  and 
were  highly  respected  by  the  people,  who  universally  resorted  to  them 
for  information  on  all  subjects.  It  was  not  lawful  to  sacrifice  without 
one  of  these  philosophers,  and  it  was  devoutly  believed,  that  through 
those  who  were  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  deity,  all  supplications 
and  thanksgiving  should  be  ofl^ered.*  The  Archdruid,  called  Ard- 
dhruid  in  Gaelic,  who  had  a  casting  vote  in  all  questions,  was  chosen  by 
the  others,  but  rivals  sometimes  contended  for  preeminence  in  arms. 

The  Celts,  according  to  Justin,  were  skilled  in  augury  above  any 
other  people,  and  the  Germans  are  represented  by  Tacitus  as  equally 
prone  to  it.  Their  method  of  divining  by  lots  was  simple;  they  cut  a 
twig  from  a  fruit-tree,  and  divided  it  into  two  pieces,  which  they  distin- 
guished by  marks,  and  threw  them  at  random  upon  a  white  garment.  If 
the  affair  was  of  a  public  nature,  a  priest,  or  if  private,  the  father  of 
a  family,  having  solemnly  invoked  the  gods  with  uplifted  eyes,  took  up 
each  of  the  pieces  thrice,  and  formed  a  judgment  according  to  the  marks. 
If  the  conclusion  was  unfavorable,  they  consulted  no  more  that  day; 
when  favorable,  they  confirmed  the  appearances  by  auguries.  They 
also  divined  events  from  the  flight  and  notes  of  birds,  and  it  was  peculiar 
to  the  Germans  to  draw  presages  from  horses,  which  were  kept  in 
uncontrolled  freedom,  in  the  sacred  woods  and  groves,  at  the  public 
expense.  They  were  milk  white,  and  were  yoked  in  a  holy  chariot,  at- 
tended by  the  priest  and  chief,  who  carefully  marked  their  actions  and 
neighing.  This  was  the  augury  in  which  most  faith  was  reposed  by  the 
nobles  and  people,  for  they  thought  the  animals  privy  to  the  will  of  the 
gods. 

Pliny  says  the  Gauls  made  much  use  of  vervain  in  divination.  When 
the  Celts  were  to  consult  concerning  any  important  matter,  they  sacrific- 
ed a  man,  by  striking  him  with  a  sword  across  his  breast,  and  judged  of 
the  event  by  the  manner  in  which  he  fell,  the  convulsion  of  his  members, 
and  the  flow  of  blood;  in  all  which  they  had  great  faith,  from  ancient 
practice  and  observation.     In  Sena,  now  L'Isle  De  Sain,  opposite 


*  Diodorus. 


DIVINATION  — TAIBHSEARACHD,  OR  SECOND  SIGHT.  461 


Brest,  was  a  celebrated  oracle,  with  nine  priests,  called  Senae,  or  Sam- 
nitre,  who  professed  celibacy. 

In  the.Silures,  or  Silina,  the  Dumnonii  worshipped  the  gods,  and  had 
knowledge  of  futurity,*  and  a  British  Druidess  foretold  the  fate  of  Dio 
cletian.  On  Bonduca's  revolt,  women,  transported  with  oracular  fury, 
chanted  denunciations.  One  method  of  divination  is  recorded  which  was 
practised  by  this  heroine.  At  the  conclusion  of  her  harangue,  she  let 
slip  a  hare  which  she  had  concealed,  and  from  its  course  having  drawn 
a  favorable  presage,  the  whole  army  shouted  for  joy.  The  religion  of 
the  Britons  did  not  permit  them  to  eat  either  a  hen,  a  goose,  or  this 
animal,  and  it  was  reckoned  unlucky  if  one  of  the  last  should  cross  one's 
path. 

Fingal  is  celebrated,  among  other  qualifications,  for  his  knowledge 
of  futurity.  The  Highlanders  had  several  methods  of  consulting  the 
fates,  some  of  which  are  not  yet  disused.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
was  when  a  number  of  men  retired  to  a  lonely  and  secluded  place,  where 
one  of  the  number  was,  with  the  exception  of  the  head,  enveloped  in 
a  cow's  hide,  and  left  alone  for  the  night.  Certain  invisible  beings  then 
came,  and  answering  the  question  which  he  put  to  them,  relieved  him. 
Martin  tells  us  of  one  Erach,  who  had  been  a  night  in  this  situation  in 
JSTorth  Uist,  and  declared  that  he  felt  and  heard  such  terrible  things 
as  could  not  be  expressed,  that  the  terror  he  was  in  had  disordered  his 
mind,  and  that  '*for  a  thousand  worlds  he  would  never  again  be  con- 
cerned in  the  like  performance."  The  Taghairm  nan  caht  was  another 
method  of  seeking  for  information,  and  consisted  in  putting  a  live  cat  on 
a  spit,  and  roasting  it  until  other  cats  made  their  appearance,  and  an- 
swering the  question,  in  Gaelic  of  course,  obtained  the  release  of  the 
unfortunate  animal.  In  order  to  get  oracles,  the  Celts  would  pass  whole 
nights  at  the  tombs  of  brave  men,|  a  frequent  practice  of  the  old  Cale- 
donians. 

The  Taibhsearachd,  or  second  sight,  is  a  faculty  in  some  Highlanders 
that  has  excited  the  surprise  and  the  doubts  of  the  learned.  A  person, 
without  any  previous  warning,  sees  something  that  is  to  happen,  both 
at  a  distance  of  time  and  place,  and  consequently  can  foretell  death  or 
accident,  and  many  other  circumstances.  That  the  Gael  have  been  and 
still  are  subject  to  this  impression,  is  too  well  ascertained  to  be  denied; 
and  it  has  been  attempted  to  account  for  it  without  admitting  supernatu- 
ral agency.  To  suppose  that  the  seers  are  impostors,  and  the  people 
deluded,  is  rather  too  much,  for  no  gain  is  derived  from  it,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  the  second  sight  is,  by  the  persons  who  possess  it,  considered 
a  misfortune,  and  the  people  cannot  consult  them  as  they  would  fortune- 
tellers. The  presages  also  are  usually  unfortunate,  and  the  prophets 
are  found  to  be  temperate  and  well  living.  That  this  faculty  can  be 
communicated  to  another,  as  a  correspondent  informed  Aubrey,  is  not 
true,  neither  is  it  hereditary,  but  affects  those  of  all  classes  and  agesi. 

*  Solinus.  t  Nicander.  Tertullian. 


RELIGIOUS  OPINIONS. 


Dr.  Johnson  could  not  satisfy  himself  that  the  Highlanders  were  deceiv- 
ed in  this  impression;  and  so  many  instances  of  well  authenticated 
foresights  are  recorded  *  as  appear  sufficient  to  silence  the  skeptical. 
The  second  sight  is  not  indeed  so  prevalent  as  formerly,  which,  accord- 
ing to  a  writer  in  some  work  which  now  escapes  my  memory,  who 
attempts  to  account  for  it  on  rational  grounds,  may  arise  from  the  alter- 
ed state  of  society  in  the  Highlands,  the  people  not  being  obliged  to  lead 
that  solitary  life  which  they  formerly  did,  when  the  imagination  was 
affected  by  the  loneliness,  the  wildness,  and  seclusion  of  the  country. 
A  German  predicted  the  good  fortune  of  Agrippa  from  observing  an  owl 
perched  on  a  tree  on  which  he  leaned,  affirming  that  should  he  see  it 
again  he  had  but  five  days  to  live.|  A  female  Druid  foretold,  in  her  na- 
tive language,  the  death  of  Alexander  Severus;  and  a  story  is  related  by 
Vopiscus,  of  a  Druidess  who  predicted  that  Diocletian,  while  a  private, 
should  become  Emperor,  after  killing  a  boar,  which  happened  to  prove 
true  by  his  slaying  Aper,  who  had  killed  Numerianus.  This  is  thought 
by  Rowland,  in  his  Mona  Antiqua,  to  be  an  instance  of  second  sight. 
The  Manx  possess  this  faculty;  and  a  story  is  related  by  Sacheverel, 
of  a  magistrate  of  Belfast,  who  had  been  wrecked,  and  was  told  by  the 
natives,  who  could  not  of  themselves  have  known  the  fact,  that  he  had 
lost  thirteen  men.  Waldron,  the  historian  of  that  island,  says  he  could 
not  bring  himself  to  believe  the  inhabitants  could  see  funerals,  &c.  until 
he  had  on  several  occasions,  when  he  visited  families,  found  the  table 
spread,  and  the  people  prepared  to  receive  him,  having  had  this  super- 
natural warning  that  he  would  come.  Martin  also  relates,  that  in  some 
of  the  isles  which  he  visited,  they  had  made  preparations  for  his  com- 
pany, telling  him  they  had  been  informed  by  appearances  that  he  was  to 
visit  them. 

Fauchet  remarks,  that  all  the  ancients  agree  that  the  Gauls  were  re- 
ligiously inclined.  With  whatever  ceremonies  the  Druidical  religion  was 
accompanied,  or  however  the  doctrines  of  its  professors  were  disguised 
under  superstitious  and,  in  some  cases,  very  objectionable  practices, 
adapted  for  the  gratification  of  the  vulgar,  it  appears  to  have  been  really 
a  belief  in  one  supreme  being.  The  purity  of  this  religion,  when  strip- 
ped of  its  mysteries  and  unmeaning  observances,  is  acknowledged.  The 
Druids,  besides  teaching  all  sorts  of  useful  knowledge,  disputed  of  mor- 
als, of  which  justice,  says  Strabo,  was  the  chief  sentiment;  and  it  has 
been  shown  in  another  place,  that  Celtic  society  was  regulated  under 
their  government  with  the  strictest  regard  to  equality  and  independence, 
both  personal  and  national.  The  grand  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  was  taught  by  this  people,  and  it  was  one  of  the  strongest  in- 
citements to  the  practice  of  virtue.  This  is  expressly  said  by  Diodorus 
to  be  the  Pythagorean  system;  a  proof  of  the  identity,  or  at  least  strong 
resemblance,  of  both  religions,  and  a  refinement  of  the  doctrine  of  me- 
tempsychosis, or  transmigration  of  the  souls  of  human  beings  into  the 

*  See  Majtin's  Western  Isles,  p.  300,  &c.  t  Josephus'  Antiquities,  xviii.  6,  7. 


RELIGIOUS  OPINIONS. 


463 


bodies  of  other  animals.  The  Celts  are  said  not  to  have  had  an  evil  prin- 
ciple, which  the  Scandinavians  admitted.*  By  the  Edda  this  people  had 
a  fixed  elysium  and  a  hell;  and  the  dead  were  believed  to  carry  their 
bodies  into  bliss,  but  the  Celtoe  held  that  the  deceased  were  unsubstantial, 
although  they  continued  to  be  inspired  with  the  same  feelings  which  an- 
imated them  on  earth:  they  were  as  immaterial  as  the  clouds  on  which 
they  were  borne,  and  were  subject  to  the  same  impression  of  the  wind; 

often  has  the  blast  whirled  his  limbs  together,  but  still  he  seemed  like 
Curach."  The  women  appear  to  have  been  excluded  from  the  Valhalla 
of  the  Northern  nations,  apparently  to  prevent  brawling,  except  in  cases 
where  they  voluntarily  killed  themselves;  on  the  contrary,  the  Celts 
admitted  them  as  their  most  agreeable  associates,  and  believed  that  in  the 
second  state  of  existence  their  charms  were  much  increased.  The 
works  of  the  bards  abound  in  beautiful  allusions  to  this  belief,  which 
long  subsisted  among  the  Gael.  A  poem,  quoted  by  Mac  Pherson,  and 
supposed  to  be  one  thousand  years  later  than  Ossian,  has  these  remark- 
able words.  "Hark!  the  whirlwind  is  in  the  wood!  alow  murmur  in 
the  vale!  it  is  the  mighty  army  of  the  dead  returning  from  the  air." 
Dreeug  is  the  meteor  on  which,  says  Dr.  Smith,  the  Highlanders  yet 
believe  they  ascend  to  heaven. 

A  general  belief  of  the  Gael  was,  that  the  future  state  of  permanent 
happiness  was  in  Flath-innis,  a  remote  Island  in  the  West;  but  they  also 
thought  that  particular  clans  had  certain  hills  to  which  the  spirits 
of  their  departed  friends  had  a  peculiar  attachment.  Tom-mhor  was 
that  appropriated  to  the  house  of  Garva,  a  branch  of  Clan  Pherson;  and 
Ore,  another  hill,  was  regarded  by  the  house  of  Crubin,  of  the  same 
clan,  as  their  place  of  meeting  in  a  future  state,  and  their  summits  were 
supernaturally  illuminated  when  any  member  of  the  families  died. 

It  was  the  opinion  formerly,  and  it  is  believed  at  this  day,  that  the 
souls  of  the  deceased  continued  to  hover  round  the  places  they  loved  to 
haunt  when  in  this  world,  and  kept  near  their  friends,  and  sometimes 
appeared  when  they  were  to  engage  in  any  important  business.  The 
popular  belief  also  was,  that  the  Druids  continued  to  frequent  the  oak 
trees,  for  which  they  had  so  much  respect  when  alive.  It  was  no  very 
irrational  persuasion,  that  the  spirits  of  the  good  should  exist  in  a  state 
of  happiness  hereafter,  should  ride  on  the  clouds,  and,  in  addition  to  the 
pleasures  of  their  own  state,  should  enjoy  the  songs  of  praise  which  those 
who  were  left  on  earth  composed  to  their  memory.  Less  ferocious  than 
the  Scandinavian  heroes,  they  did  not  place  their  delight  in  quaffing 
wine  from  the  skulls  of  their  foes,  but  their  chief  enjoyments  were  the 
careful  protection  of  their  earthly  friends  and  the  refined  pursuit  of 
aerial  hunting  and  feasting.  There  the  passions  which  disturbed  the  tran- 
quillity of  a  sublunary  life  were  hushed;  "  side  by  side,"  says  an  ancient 
bard,  "  they  sit  who  once  mixed  in  battle  their  steel."  There  were, 
however,  bad  as  well  as  good  spirits,  and  the  distinction  which  the  an- 

*  Mac  Pherson's  Introduction  to  the  Hist,  of  Great  Britain. 


MISLETOE  AND  SERPENT'S  EGG. 


cient  Scots  made  between  them  was,  that  the  latter  sometimes  appeared 
by  day;  and  although  the  place  was  usually  lonely  and  unfrequented,  it 
was  never  in  those  dismal  and  gloomy  parts  where  the  evil  genii  present- 
ed themselves,  and  invariably  during  night. 

As  teachers  of  morality,  the  Druids,  by  their  own  example,  enforced 
their  precepts;  their  austerity  and  contemplative  habits  inspired  the  pop- 
ulace with  reverence  and  awe,  while  enjoying  an  exemption  from  war, 
and  immunity  of  all  things,  many  were  brought  up  to  the  profession.* 
What  is  related  of  the  Pythagoreans  is  equally  applicable  to  the  profes- 
sors of  Bardism;  they  were  particularly  careful  to  guard  against  all  sorts 
of  intemperance;  and  to  inure  themselves  to  abstinence,  they  had  all 
sorts  of  delicacies  prepared,  as  if  for  a  banquet,  which  they  spread  out 
and  feasted  their  eyes  with  for  some  time,  when,  having  sufficiently  tried 
their  resolution,  the  whole  was  cleared  away,  and  they  all  withdrew 
without  tasting  any  thing. 

The  attachment  of  these  philosophers  to  each  other  was  an  admirable 
example  of  brotherly  affection.  They  often  travelled  great  distances  to 
relieve  the  distresses  of  each  other,  the  whole  sect  being  animated  with 
a  desire  to  assist  those  who  had,  through  misfortune,  become  reduced; 
and  instances  are  recorded  of  their  even  offering  their  lives  for  each  oth- 
er.'('  In  this  there  is  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  philanthropy  of  Free- 
masons, the  traditions  of  whom,  scriptural  and  oral,  are,  I  apprehend, 
referable  to  the  institutions  of  Druidism.  The  Pythagoreans,  like  their 
brethren  the  Celtic  Druids,  were  fond  of  an  enigmatical  way  of  speak- 
ing. Their  injunction  to  refrain  from  eating  beans,  involved  a  command 
to  abstain  from  unlawful  love, J 

The  Druids  were,  like  the  priests  of  other  nations,  obliged  to  clothe 
religion  with  ceremonies  calculated  to  excite  the  wonder  and  awe  of  the 
common  people,  but  the  opinions  of  the  better  informed  were  not  so 
gross  as  the  externals  of  their  religion  might  indicate.  The  respect 
which  the  Druids  had  for  the  oak  was  a  characteristic  of  the  profession, 
and  was  only  exceeded  by  the  veneration  which  they  had  for  the  Misle- 
toe;  they  had  also  a  mysterious  regard  for  the  number  3,  and  the  Py- 
thagoreans knew  each  other  by  it.  Vallancey  has  remarked  that  the 
misletoe,  in  its  berries  and  leaves,  grows  in  this  number,  but  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  it  was  that  which  was  found  on  the  oak  only,  that  the 
Druids  considered  sacred,  and  which  they  gathered  with  so  much  cere- 
mony. It  seems  that  this  veneration  pervaded  the  Greeks  also,  and  by 
the  Edda  it  would  appear  to  have  been  the  forbidden  fruit.  The  vene- 
ration which  the  Celts  had  for  vervain  and  other  plants,  with  the  super- 
stitions accompanying  their  gathering  and  preparation,  have  been  spoken 
of  in  Chap.  XI. 

The  Ovum  anguinum,  described  by  Pliny,§  was  thus  formed.  Innu- 
merable serpents,  entwining  themselves  together,  produced  an  egg, 

*  Coesar.  t  Diod.  Frag.  Valesii,  vi.  sec.  36,  37,  &c. 

t  Beloe,  note  on  Herod,  iv.  c  131.  §  Lib.  xviii-  3. 


HUMAN  SACRIFICES. 


465 


which  being  forced  into  the  air,  was  caught  in  a  robe  before  it  touched 
the  ground,  and  borne  off  instantly  on  horse-back,  the  intervention  of  a 
river  alone  stopping  the  pursuit  of  the  serpents.  Those  only  which  were 
procured  at  a  certain  age  of  the  moon  were  valued,  and  their  goodness 
was  proved  by  their  swimming  against  the  water,  even  when  bound  with 
gold.  This  egg  was  the  ensign  of  a  Druid,  and  the  virtues  ascribed  to 
it  were  numerous.  I  truly,  says  Pliny,  have  seen  it,  about  the  size  of 
a  moderate  round  apple,  with  a  shell  like  the  claws  and  arms  of  a  poly- 
pus. For  success  in  lawsuits,  and  interest  with  kings  it  was  wonder- 
fully extolled;  and  I  know  that  a  Roman  knight  of  the  Vocontii,  was 
put  to  death,  because,  while  pleading  a  cause,  he  had  it  in  his  bosom. 
This  is  the  glain  nadir  of  the  Welsh,  who  still  regard  it  with  supersti- 
tious feelings. 

The  sacrifices  of  the  Celts,  as  we  have  seen  in  their  auguries,  were 
not  always  bloodless.  Hercules  and  Mars  were  appeased  with  beasts, 
but  to  Mercury,  on  certain  days,  it  was  lawful  to  offer  even  human  vic- 
tims. The  shocking  practice  of  immolating  human  beings  is  so  repug- 
nant to  modern  feelings,  that  many  have  become  skeptical  as  to  its  exist- 
ence among  the  ancient  Celts.  It  certainly  was  in  use  by  those  people 
on  the  continent  and  in  the  British  Isles,  particularly  in  Anglesea.* 

The  principle  of  life  for  life,  may  account  for  the  apparent  frequency 
of  these  horrible  rites,  for  those  convicted  of  crimes  were  preferred. 
They  kept  malefactors  and  prisoners  sometimes  five  years,  and  then  im- 
paled them  on  stakes,  and  presented  them  as  a  burnt  offering  for  the 
honor  of  the  gods.  It  must,  nevertheless,  be  admitted  that  guiltless  in- 
dividuals were  often  doomed  to  fall  as  a  propitiation  to  the  Celtic  deities. 
The  Galatians,  when  successful  in  war,  sacrificed  their  prisoners,  and 
we  read  that  they  prepared  for  battle  with  Antigonus,  by  sacrificing 
many  of  their  children  and  relations. f  Some,  we  are  told,  were  shot 
with  sacred  arrows;  but  let  us  not  conclude  that  the  Celtas  were  more 
sanguinary  and  cruel  than  other  nations.  Human  sacrifices  were  not 
abolished  in  the  refined  "  city  of  the  world"  ninety-seven  years  before 
the  appearance  of  Christ. J  A  male  and  female  Gaul,  and  a  Grecian 
man  and  woman,  we  are  informed  by  Livy,  were  buried  alive  after  the 
battle  of  Cannae,  but  not  by  the  Roman  rites,  it  is  added!  a  distinction 
which  doubtless  altered  the  case.§  In  the  time  of  Csesar,  two  men  were 
publicly  sacrificed,  and  human  victims  were  offered  to  Jupiter  Latialis 
even  in  the  fourth  century.  The  history  of  Rome  affords  a  few  instan- 
ces of  individuals  devoting  themselves  to  death  for  the  purpose  of  avert- 
ing an  impending  evil.  The  Massilians,  or  rather  the  Gauls  around 
them,  were  accustomed  to  sacrifice  a  voluntary  victim,  who  was  deli- 
cately fed  and  sumptuously  treated  for  a  year  previous  to  his  death.  He 
was  then  dressed  in  holy  garments  ;  and,  crowned  with  a  wreath  of 
vervain,  he  was  thrown  headlong  from  a  precipice.  || 

*  Tac.  Annals,  xiv.  t  Justin,  xxvi.  2.    Strabo,  iv.  p.  195. 

t  Pliny,  XXXI.  §  Dio.  xliii.  24  ||  Petronius. 

59 


466 


GROVE  AND  TEMPLE  DESCRIBED. 


The  colossal  figure,  formed  of  osier  and  described  by  Caesar,  was 
certainly  used  by  the  priests  of  Druidism  as  the  vehicle  in  which  numer- 
ous human  beings  were  occasionally  immolated.  Strabo  says  that  it  was 
chiefly  filled  with  sheep,  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  sacrifices  were 
not  always  of  so  innocent  a  nature.  Dr.  Milner,  in  his  History  of  Win- 
chester, says  that  at  Douay  and  Dunkirk  there  is  an  immemorial  custom 
of  constructing  huge  figures  of  wicker  work  and  canvass,  that  are  filled 
with  men  and  moved  about  to  represent  a  giant  that  was  killed  by  their 
patron  saint.  In  Paris,  there  used  to  be  a  custom,  which  is  not  yet 
abolished  in  some  small  towns,  and  that  seems  evidently  to  derive  its 
origin  from  the  barbarous  practice  of  the  Druids.  The  Mayors,  on  the 
eve  of  St.  John,  put  into  a  large  basket  a  dozen  or  two  of  cats,  which 
are  thrown  into  the  bonfires  kindled  on  that  festival.* 

Between  the  Seine  and  the  Loire,  where  Chartres  now  stands,  it  is 
believed,  was  that  famous  establishment  of  the  Druids,  "where  rustics 
pled  and  private  persons  decided."  At  this  place  all  who  had  contro- 
versies met  together,  and,  from  an  ancient  comedy  quoted  by  Ritson, 
it  appears  the  sentences  of  the  oak"  were  here  pronounced  and  writ- 
ten on  bones.  At  a  certain  time  of  the  year  the  Druids  sat  down  in  a 
consecrated  grove  of  Mona,  or  Anglesea,  whither  all  went  to  have  their 
disputes  settled.l 

A  beautiful  description,  by  Lucan,of  a  consecrated  grove  of  the  Gauls 
near  Marseilles,  has  been  thus  translated: 

Not  far  away,  for  ages  past  had  stood 

An  old,  inviolated,  sacred  wood ; 

Whose  gloomy  boughs,  thick  interwoven,  made 

A  chilly,  cheerless,  everlasting  shade  : 

There,  not  the  rustic  gods,  nor  satyrs  sport, 

Nor  fawns  and  sy Ivans  with  the  nymphs  resort  j 

But  barb'rous  priests  some  dreadful  power  adore, 

And  lustrate  every  tree  with  human  gore. 

If  mysteries  in  times  of  old  received, 

And  pious  ancientry  may  be  believed. 

There  not  the  feathered  songster  builds  her  nest. 

Nor  lonely  dens  conceal  the  savage  beast : 

There  no  tempestuous  winds  presume  to  fly, 

Even  lightnings  glance  aloof,  and  shoot  obliquely  by. 

No  wanton  breezes  toss  the  wanton  leaves, 

But  shiv'ring  horror  in  the  branches  heaves. 

Black  springs,  with  pitchy  streams,  divide  the  ground, 

And,  bubbling,  tumble  with  a  sullen  sound. 

Old  images  of  forms  misshapen  stand, 

Rude,  and  unknowing  of  the  artist's  hand ; 

With  hoary  filth  begrimed,  each  ghastly  head 

Strikes  the  astonished  gazer's  soul  with  dread. 

No  gods,  who  long  in  common  shape  appeared, 

Were  e'er  with  such  religious  awe  revered; 

But  zealous  crowds  in  ignorance  adore, 

And  still,  the  less  they  know,  they  fear  the  more. 

"  St.  Foix,  Essay  on  Paris.  t  Richard  of  Cirencester,  b.  i.  c.  4.  §  13, 


DRESS  OF  THE  DRUIDS.  467 

Oft,  as  fame  tells,  the  earth  in  sounds  of  wo, 

Is  heard  to  groan  from  hollow  depths  below ; 

The  baleful  yew,  though  dead,  has  oft  been  seen. 

To  rise  from  earth,  and  spring  with  dusky  green ; 

With  sparkling  flames  the  trees  unburning  shine,* 

And  round  their  boles  prodigious  serpents  twine. 

The  pious  worshippers  approach  not  near. 

But  shun  their  gods,  and  kneel  with  distant  fear : 

The  priest  himself,  when  or  the  day,  or  night. 

Rolling,  have  reached  their  full  meridian  height, 

Refrains  the  gloomy  paths  with  wary  feet. 

Dreading  the  daemon  of  the  grove  to  meet ; 

Who,  terrible  to  sight,  at  that  fixed  hour 

Still  treads  the  round  about  his  dreary  bower. 

This  wood,  near  neighboring  to  the  encompassed  town 

Untouched  by  former  wars  remained  alone  ; 

And,  since  the  country  round  it  naked  stands, 

From  hence  the  Latian  chief  supplies  demands. 

But  lo  !  the  bolder  hands  that  should  have  struck 

With  some  unusual  horror,  trembling  shook ; 

With  silent  dread,  and  reverence  they  surveyed 

The  gloom  majestic  of  the  sacred  shade  : 

None  dares,  with  impious  steel,  the  bark  to  rend, 

Lest  on  himself  the  destined  stroke  descend. 

Caesar  perceived  the  spreading  fear  to  grow. 

Then,  eager,  caught  an  axe,  and  aimed  a  blow. 

Deep  sunk,  within  a  violated  oak, 

The  wounding  edge,  and  thus  the  warrior  spoke  :  — 

"  Now,  let  no  doubting  hand  the  task  decline  ; 

Cut  you  the  wood,  and  let  the  guilt  be  mine." 

The  trembling  bands  unwillingly  obeyed. 

Two  various  ills  were  in  the  balance  laid,  ^ 

And  Caesar's  wrath  against  the  gods  was  weighed. 

With  grief  and  fear,  the  groaning  Gauls  beheld 

Their  holy  grove  by  impious  soldiers  felled ; 

While  the  Massilians,  from  the  encompassed  wall, 

Rejoiced  to  see  the  sylvan  honors  fall : 

They  hope  such  power  can  never  prosper  long. 

Nor  think  the  patient  gods  will  bear  the  wrong. 

The  two  Druids  forming  the  vignette  to  the  last  Chapter  are  from  an 
engraving  in  Montfaucon's  splendid  work,  who  appears  to  have  copied 
them  from  Auberi's  Antiquities  d'Autun.  The  mace,  or  sceptre,  car- 
ried by  one  is  the  drudical  ensign  of  office.  The  Highlanders  retain  a  tra- 
ditional knowledge  of  the  slatan  drui'achd,  which  they  say  was  a  white 
wand.  The  other  carries  the  crescent,  or  first  quarter  of  the  moon,  call- 
ed cornan  by  the  Irish,  of  which  some,  formed  of  gold,  have  been  found 
in  that  country.  The  robe  of  a  Druid  was  pure  white,  indicating  holi- 
ness and  truth.  The  Pythagoreans  held  it  improper  to  sacrifice  to  the 
gods  in  gaudy  habits,  but  only  in  white  and  clean  robes,  for  they  main- 

*  The  Gaelic  Druilinn,  or  Druidhlann,  the  flame  of  the  Druids,  denoted  a  sudden 
gleam  produced  in  their  ceremonies.  They  appear  to  have  been  the  inventors  of  gun- 
powder, or  something  similar. 


m 


DIVISIONS  OF  TIME. 


tained  that  those  so  engaged  should  not  only  bring  bodies  free  from  gross 
and  outward  wickedness,  but  pure  ana  undefiled  souls.*  The  bards 
wore  a  robe  of  sky  blue  color,  the  emblem  of  peace  and  sincerity.  The 
robe  of  the  ovydd,  or  ovate,  was  a  bright  green,  the  emblem  of  true 
learning,  as  being  the  uniform  clothing  of  nature.  Strabo  describes 
the  Druidesses  as  clothed  in  white  linen  cloaks  fastened  by  clasps  and 
girdles  of  brass  work.| 

The  knowledge  of  the  Druids  was  profound.  They  taught,  says  Cae- 
sar, of  the  stars  and  their  motion,  the  magnitude  of  countries,  the  nature 
of  things,  and  the  power  of  the  gods.  Talliesin,  a  Welsh  bard  of  the  sixth 
century,  said,  he  knew  the  names  of  the  stars  from  north  to  south;  and 
his  opinions,  which  must  have  been  those  of  the  order  to  which  he  be- 
longed, were,  that  there  are  seven  elements  —  fire,  earth,  water,  air, 
mist,  atoms,  and  the  animating  wind;  that  there  were  seven  sources  of 
ideas — perception,  volition,  and  the  five  senses,  coinciding  in  this  with 
Locke.  He  also  says,  there  were  seven  spheres,  with  seven  real  plan- 
ets, and  three  that  are  aqueous.  The  planets  were  Sola,  Luna,  Mar- 
carucia,  Venerus,  Severus,  and  Saturnus;  and  he  describes  five  zones, 
two  of  which  were  uninhabited,  one  from  excessive  cold,  the  other  from 
excessive  heat. J 

The  Druids  reckoned  by  nights  and  not  by  days,  and  held  thirty  years 
an  age.  The  Gael  call  the  spring  ceituin,  or  ceuduin,  literally  the  first 
season,  or  May,  the  Druidical  year  commencing  at  that  time,  an  expres- 
sion that  corresponds  with  the  French  printems  and  Italian  primavera. 
The  civic  or  artificial  year  began  the  25th  of  December,  on  which  occa- 
sion the  Jul  feast,  in  honor  of  the  sun,  was  held;  and  when  it  became  a 
Christian  festival  the  heathen  fires  were  permitted,  it  being  a  practice, 
but  lately  discontinued,  even  in  England  to  burn  the  Christmas  log. 

The  Highlanders  call  the  year  Bheil-aine,  the  circle  of  Bel,  or  the 
Sun.    The  days  of  the  week  are  thus  named: 


Sunday   Dies  Solis  ....  Di  Sol. 

Monday  Dies  Lunae.  .  .  .  Di  Luain. 

Tuesday  Dies  Martis  .  .  .  Di  Mairt. 

Wednesday  .  .  .  .Dies  Mercurii.  .  Di  Ciadoin. 
Thursday   ....  Dies  Jovis      .  .  Di  Taran. 

Friday   Dies  Veneris    .  Di  Haoine. 

Saturday  Dies  Saturni    .  .  Di  Sathuirne. 


The  aflinity  of  the  English,  Latin,  and  Gaelic,  is  here  plain,  and  cor- 
roborative of  the  observations  in  former  pages. 

The  knowledge  which  the  Druids  possessed  of  mathematics  must  have 
been  great.  The  erection  of  their  astonishing  temples  is,  alone,  proof 
of  their  skill,  but  the  mode  in  which  those  immense  stones  were  brought 
together,  and  piled  up,  cannot  well  be  conceived,  unless  we  admit  the 


*  The  Irish  say  tiiat,  by  the  Brehon  laws,  a  Druid  had  six  colors  in  his  robe  ;  a  re> 
markable  difference  from  the  Britons. 

t  Douglas's  Nen.  Brit.  p.  40.  t  Roberts's  Early  History  of  the  Cumri. 


DRUIDICAL  KNOWLEDGE. 


469 


use  of  machiner}'.  A  traveller  in  Greece,  whose  work  I  recently  read, 
gives  an  account  of  a  very  ingenious  manner  of  detaching  large  masses 
of  stone  from  the  native  rock.  In  Bakewell's  Travels,  when  speaking 
of  the  dissolution  of  the  Alpine  rocks  by  Hannibal,  the  writer  supposes 
that  the  expansive  power  of  vapor  might  be  the  means  adopted.  Count 
Rumford  ascertained  that  a  drachm  of  water,  inclosed  in  a  mass  of  iron 
the  size  of  a  solid  24-pounder,  was  sufficient  to  burst  it,  with  a  violent 
explosion,  by  the  application  of  heat;  and  freezing,  as  is  well  known, 
will  split  the  hardest  rocks.  It  is,  however,  said  that  Hannibal  used 
vinegar,  a  story  that  could  scarcely  have  originated  without  some  foun- 
dation in  fact.  The  vinegar  of  the  ancients,  which  could  dissolve  pearls, 
as  in  the  case  of  Cleopatra,  must  have  been  very  different  from  any  kind 
now  known.  Whether  the  Druids  used  the  above  methods,  or  by  what- 
other  means  they  procured  the  enormous  blocks  which  they  used,  we 
cannot  ascertain.  It  is  no  less  difficult  to  conceive  how  they  could 
have  been  poised  on  their  ends.  The  natural  supposition,  which  is,  in- 
deed, corroborated  by  the  description  of  an  ancient  author,  is,  that  they 
were  placed  in  the  proper  position  by  means  of  an  inclined  plane  of 
earth,  up  which  they  were  rolled,  and  at  the  highest  end  were  slipped 
into  their  place.  They  were  set  on  so  true  a  perpendicular  that,  al- 
though some  of  the  largest  are  not  deeper  in  the  ground  than  1|  or  2 
feet,  they  have  never  swerved  from  the  upright.  Considering  the  trou- 
ble with  which  they  must  have  been  procured,  it  can  scarcely  be  sup- 
posed their  height  would  have  been  needlessly  lessened.  It  is  a  tra- 
dition among  the  Highlanders,  that  the  Druids  worked  at  night  and 
rested  during  the  day. 

The  Druids  were  physicians,  and  their  medical  knowledge,  which  was 
by  no  means  small,  has  elsewhere  been  spoken  of.  The  Feryllt  of 
Talliesin  was  skilled  in  every  thing  requiring  the  operation  of  fire,  and 
this  comprising  botany,  from  the  duty  of  selecting  plants  for  the  mystical 
caldron,  the  name  in  time  came  to  signify  chemists. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  religion  so  venerated  and  universal  should 
be  long,  ere  it  finally  gave  way  to  the  establishment  of  Christianity. 
"  Under  the  specious  pretext  of  abolishing  human  sacrifices,  the  Em- 
perors Tiberius  and  Claudius  suppressed  the  dangerous  power  of  the 
Druids;  but  the  priests  themselves,  their  gods,  and  their  altars,  subsist- 
ed in  peaceful  obscurity  till  the  final  destruction  of  paganism."*  The 
latest  mention  of  the  Gallic  Druids  appears  to  be  by  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linus,  who  flourished  in  the  latter  end  of  the  fourth  century;  in  Britain 
the  religion  certainly  remained  to  a  period  considerably  later. 

Talliesin,  who  lived  in  the  sixth  century,  was  initiated  in  the  myste- 
ries of  Druidism;  nay.  Prince  Hywell,  who  died  in  1171,  thus  invokes 
the  deity,  "  Attend  thou  my  worship  in  the  mystical  grove,  and  whilst  I 
adore  thee,  maintain  thy  own  jurisdiction."  A  manuscript  of  the  twelfth 
or  thirteenth  century,  which  contains  a  life  of  Columba,  relates  that  the 

*  Gibbon,  from  Suetonius.    Pliny,  xxx.  1,  &c. 


470 


DECLINE  OF  DRUIDISM. 


Saint  going  to  Bruidhi  Mac  Milcon,  King  of  the  Picts,  his  son  Maelchu, 
with  his  Druid,  argued  Keenly  against  Columba  in  support  of  paganism  * 

A  curious  dialogue  is  preserved,  in  which  Ossian  and  St.  Patrick  dis- 
pute, concerning  the  merits  of  their  respective  religions.  The  bard  con- 
trasts the  pitiful  songs  of  the  apostle  with  his  own  poems,  and  extols  the 
virtues  of  Fingal,  m  reward  for  which  he  believed  he  was  then  enjoying 
the  delights  of  the  aerial  existence;  but  the  saint  assures  him  that,  not- 
withstanding the  worth  of  Fingal,  being  a  pagan  he  was  assuredly  at 
that  time  roasting  in  hell.  The  choler  of  the  honest  Caledonian  rising 
at  this,  he  passionately  exclaims,  "  If  the  children  of  Morni  and  the 
many  tribes  of  the  clan  Ovi  were  alive,  we  would  force  brave  Fingal  out 
of  hell,  or  the  habitation  should  be  our  own." 

Druidism  was  so  powerfully  assailed  in  the  Southern  parts  of  the 
Island,  that  its  votaries  took  refuge  in  the  North,  and  the  Island  of  lona 
became  its  most  sacred  retreat,  to  which  the  Welsh  are  said  to  have 
made  frequent  pilgrimage.  So  well  settled  did  it  become  in  these  parts, 
that  Gwenddollen,  the  Ard-dhruid,  is  represented  by  Merddyn  or  Merlin, 
his  priest,  as  "gathering  his  contributions  from  every  extremity  of  the 
land;"  but  it  was  not  maintained  without  difficulty,  and  in  other  parts  it 
was  more  vigorously  attacked,  and  its  votaries  bitterly  persecuted. 
Merddyn  deplores  that  the  rites  of  his  religion  dared  not  be  practised  in 
"  raised  circles,"  for  "  the  gray  stones  they  even  removed." 

When  Colan,  or  Columba,  established  himself  in  li,  or  lona,  it  was 
the  death  blow  to  Druidism  in  Scotland.  He  had,  however,  according 
to  tradition,  a  great  respect  for  the  order,  although  he  opposed  their 
doctrines  and  burnt  their  books,  and  did  actually  with  King  Aidan  inter- 
cede for  the  Irish  bards  at  the  council  of  Drumceat,  and  procured  a 
modification  of  their  punishment,  the  profession  not  being  abolished,  but 
restricted  to  Ulster  and  Dalriada.  On  the  suppression  of  Druidism  in 
lona,  it  is  said  that  the  Welsh  carried  away  many  of  the  mystical  instru- 
ments, which  a  partial  revival  of  the  system  in  their  own  country,  ena- 
bled them  for  several  centuries  to  use. 

This  singular  religion  influenced,  in  no  small  degree,  the  early  Chris- 
tians, who  mixed  a  great  deal  of  the  ancient  superstition  with  the  cere- 
monies of  the  church.  By  a  council  of  Lateran  in  452,  the  adoration  of 
stones  in  woods  and  places  now  decayed,  v/as  forbidden;  and  Gregory 
of  Tours,  a  writer  of  the  sixth  century,  shows  that  woods,  waters,  birds, 
beasts,  and  stones,  were  still  worshipped. I  Pope  Gregory  III.,  about 
740,  prohibits  the  Germans  from  sacrifices  or  auguries  beside  sacred 
groves  or  fountains.  So  difficult  is  it  to  wean  people  from  the  religion 
of  their  fathers,  and  that  which  has  been  long  venerated,  that  the  first 
Christians  were  obliged  to  conciliate  their  proselytes  by  tolerating  some 
of  their  prejudices;  perhaps  they  themselves  were  somewhat  affected  by 
a  respect  for  ancient  usages.    When  Ethelred,  as  Malmesbury  informs 

*  Report  of  the  Highland  Society  on  the  Poems  of  Ossian,  App.  311. 
t  Keysler,  p.  63. 


RELIGIOUS  FEELINGS  OF  THE  GAEL. 


471 


us,  was  to  hear  Augustine  preach,  he  refused  to  enter  a  house  with  him, 
but  sat  in  the  open  air,  actuated,  it  is  probable,  by  the  persuasion  that 
the  Deity  should  not  be  worshipped  under  cover. 

Various  enactments  were  passed  against  practices  that  must  have 
originated  in  the  times  of  Druidism,  without  effecting  their  abolition. 
One  observance,  that  of  decking  houses  and  churches  with  evergreens 
and  misletoe,  under  which,  in  presumed  imitation  of  the  Druids,  it  is 
customary  to  kiss  the  maids,  has  survived  in  England  to  the  present 
day.  At  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  stones  were  revered  in  Ireland; 
but  this  is  not  very  remarkable,  since  they  are  even  yet  looked  upon  by 
the  Gael  with  a  degree  of  awe.  James  Shaw,  bard  to  Campbell  of  Loch- 
nell,  reproaches  one  Finlay  for  destroying  these  venerable  monuments; 
he  supposes  a  Druid  appears,  and  charges  him  to  convey  his  displeas- 
ure to  the  sacrilegious  offender,  who,  being  a  merchant,  is  told  that  his 
unhallowed  work  is  a  more  serious  affair  than  cheating  the  Glasgow  tra- 
ders. It  has  been  carefully  noted,  that  none  who  ever  meddled  with  the 
Druids'  stones  prospered  in  this  world. 

Turgot,  confessor  to  Queen  Margaret,  says  that  the  Scots  celebrated 
mass  with  barbarous  rites;  and  Scaliger  remarks  that  the  popery  of  Ire- 
land was  mixed  with  much  paganism.  More  has  been  shown  in  preced- 
ing pages  of  the  mixture  of  ancient  superstition  with  Christianity  among 
the  Gael  of  both  countries.  The  Culdee  clergy  succeeded  the  Druid- 
ical  order. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  Highlanders  seldom  or  ever  meddle 
with  religion,  and  the  late  General  Stewart  has  some  very  sensible  re- 
marks on  their  tolerant  spirit,  mixed,  however,  with  regret  that  sectaries 
should  have  been  able  to  infuse  among  them  a  spirit  of  cavilhng  and 
dispute  on  religious  topics.  He  deplores  that,  instead  of  the  contented 
plain  Christian-like  satisfaction  formerly  to  be  found  among  them,  they 
occupy  themselves  too  frequently  in  "  disputes  of  interminable  length." 
The  example  of  the  chief  was  formerly  almost  sufficient  authority  for  the 
religion  which  the  clan  professed.  Mac  Lean  of  Coll  converted  his 
tenants  in  Mull  from  Popery,  by  meeting  them  when  going  to  chapel, 
and  driving  them  into  a  barn  where  the  Presbyterian  clergyman  was  to 
preach,  and  having  on  this  occasion  used  a  gold-headed  cane;  it  passed 
into  a  saying  that  their  religion  was  that  of  the  yellow-headed  stick. 
The  Highlanders  were,  however,  too  liberal  to  molest  any  on  account 
of  their  religious  principles;  and  Martin  mentions  a  person  who  alone 
professed  the  Catholic  religion  in  a  populous  island  of  Protestants. 

It  must  be  allowed  that  the  Highlands  have,  until  lately,  been  ex- 
tremely ill  supplied  with  spiritual  instruction,  some  of  the  parishes  being 
of  incredible  size.  It  is  related  that  a  Lowland  clergyman  at  the  gen- 
eral assembly  urged  his  necessity  for  an  augmentation  of  stipend,  on 
account  of  the  largeness  of  his  parish.  He  was  asked  its  size,  when  he 
said  eight  miles  in  breadth;  on  which  a  member  immediately  replied  that 
his  was  more  than  ten;  mine  is  twenty,  says  another;  mine  is  thirty; 


472 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES. 


forty,  said  a  third  and  fourth;  and  others  could  have  proved  their 
parochial  districts  considerably  larger.  Missionaries,  or  assistants,  have 
now  been  established  in  suitable  places,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  with  much 
advantage  to  the  people  :  the  morality  and  former  happiness  of  the  High- 
landers reflect  credit  on  themselves  and  on  their  spiritual  teachers,  who 
labored  with  such  success  in  so  extended  a  field. 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES. 

In  Chapter  V.  some  remarks  have  been  offered  on  the  intercourse 
of  the  sexes,  when  speaking  of  the  mercheta  mulierum.  The  Celts, 
it  has  been  there  said,  are  charged  with  a  neglect  of  their  women,  and 
a  disregard  to  the  proper  regulation  of  the  married  state,  that  could 
but  ill  accord  with  the  condition  of  a  people  in  any  degree  civilized. 
Ten  or  twelve  Britons,  it  is  said,  espoused  a  virgin  each,  and  tak- 
ing up  their  abode  together,  they  lived  in  promiscuous  cohabitation, 
but  the  children  of  each  woman  was  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
man  who  had  originally  married  the  mother.  The  custom  which  con- 
tinued until  lately  in  some  parts,  and  yet  subsists  among  a  few  of  the 
rudest,  who  sleep  all  together  on  straw  or  rushes,  according  to  the 
general  ancient  practice,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  led  to  the  asper- 
sion cast  on  the  British  and  Irish  tribes.  How  natural  it  must  have 
been  for  a  casual  observer  to  suppose  from  seeing  men  and  women  re- 
posing in  the  same  place,  that  the  marriage  rites  were  not  in  force.  To 
judge  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  by  the  rudest  of  the  present  Highland- 
ers and  Irish,  who  often  sleep  in  the  same  apartment,  and  are  some- 
times exposed  to  each  other  in  a  state  of  semi-nudity,  we  should  not 
come  to  a  conclusion  unfavorable  to  their  morality,  for  this  mode  of  life 
is  not  productive  of  that  conjugal  infidelity  which  St.  Jerome  and  others 
insinuate  as  prevalent  among  the  old  Scots,  Solinus,  indeed,  says  the 
women  in  Thule  were  common,  ihe  king  having  a  free  choice;  and  Dio 
says  the  Caledonians  had  wives  in  common  :  yet  these  assertions  may 
well  be  disputed.  Strabo  describes  the  Irish  as  extremely  gross  in  this 
matter;  O'Conner  says  polygamy  was  permitted;  and  Derrick  tells  us 
they  exchanged  wives  once  or  twice  a  year;  while  Campion  says  they 
only  married  for  a  year  and  day,  sending  their  wives  home  again  for  any 
slight  offence ;  but  notwithstanding  the  attempt  of  Sir  William  Temple  to 
show  the  advantages  of  such  loose  connexion,  it  is  reasonable  to  believe 
that  it  did  not  exist,  at  least  to  the  extent  represented.  Nations  that 
are  even  in  a  savage  state  are  sometimes  found  more  sensitive  on  that 
point  of  honor  than  nations  more  advanced  in  civilisation;  and  all,  per- 
haps, that  can  be  admitted  is,  that  certain  formalities  may  have  been 
practised  by  the  Britons,  from  which  the  bundling  of  the  Welsh,  and 
the  hand-fisting  in  some  parts  of  Scotland,  are  derived.  The  conver- 
sation which  took  place  between  the  Empress  Julia  and  the  wife  of  a 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES. 


473 


Caledonian  chief,  as  related  by  Xiphilin,  certainly  evinces  a  grossness  and 
indelicacy  in  the  amours  of  the  British  ladies,  if  true;  but  it  appears  to 
be  a  reply  where  wit  and  reproof  were  more  aimed  at  than  truth.  TJie 
case  of  the  Empress  Cartismandua  shows  the  nice  feeling  of  the  Britons 
as  to  the  propriety  of  female  conduct.  The  respect  of  the  Germans  for 
their  females,  and  the  severity  with  which  they  visited  a  deviation  from 
virtue,  have  been  described;  and  the  farther  testimony  of  Tacitus  may 
be  adduced,  who  says  that  but  very  few  of  the  greatest  dignity  chose  to 
have  more  than  one  wife,  and  when  they  did,  it  was  merely  for  the  hon- 
or of  alliance.  It  may  here  be  stated  that  the  Gael  have  no  word  to 
express  cuckold,  and  that  prostitutes  were,  by  Scots'  law,  like  that  of 
the  ancient  Germans,  thrown  into  deep  wells;  and  a  woman  was  not  per- 
mitted to  complain  of  an  assault  if  she  allowed  more  than  one  night  to 
elapse  before  the  accusation. 

The  Gauls,  according  to  Caesar,  had  no  sexual  intercourse  before 
twenty.  The  Germans  were  equally  long  before  they  partook  of  con- 
nubial happiness;  they  married  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  the  parties  were 
matched  in  stature  as  well  as  disposition,  and  this  was  not  only  with  a 
view  to  their  own  happiness,  but  to  insure  a  fine  family. 

The  ceremonies  of  courtship  and  marriage  among  the  Celts  were  not 
tedious,  but  the  latter  was  never  consummated  without  consulting  the 
Druidess  and  her  purin,  which  was  five  stones  thrown  up  and  caught  on 
the  back  of  the  hand,  called,  says  Vallancey,  by  the  Irish,  Seic  seona, 
now  corrupted  into  jackstones.*  The  ancient  Irish  presented  their  lov- 
ers with  bracelets  of  womens'  hair.  Duchomar,  a  Caledonian  hero, 
recommends  his  suit  to  Morna,  by  saying  he  had  slain  a  stately  deer 
for  her.  The  Gauls  brought  a  portion  equal  to  that  of  the  women,  and 
the  united  product  was  reserved  for  the  survivor. "f  Among  the  Germans 
the  husband  gave  the  wife  a  dowery —  oxen,  and  a  horse  accoutred,  a 
shield,  with  a  sword  and  javelin;  and  the  parents  attended  to  approve  of 
these  presents,  by  whose  acceptance  the  damsel  was  espoused.  The 
oxen  in  the  same  yoke,  we  are  told,  indicated  that  the  wife  v/as  hence- 
forth to  be  a  partner  with  the  husband  in  his  hazards  and  fatigues.  The 
arms  which  she  received,  with  certain  others  which  she  also,  it  appears, 
brought  to  her  husband,  she  preserved  for  her  sons,  whose  wives  might 
again  receive  them. J  The  father  of  a  bride  among  the  old  Highlanders 
gave  his  arms  to  his  son-in-law.  Spelman  remarks  that  the  Irish  dowers 
were  bestowed  exactly  in  the  manner  of  the  old  Germans. 

The  Highlanders  give  dowers  according  to  their  means,  cattle,  provi- 
sions, farmstocking.  See;  and  where  the  parents  are  unable  to  provide 
sufficiently,  it  is  customary  in  Scotland  for  a  newly-married  couple  to 
"thig,"  or  collect  grain,  &lc.  from  their  neighbors,  by  which  means  they 
procure  as  much  as  will  serve  for  the  first  year,  and  often  more.  The 
portion  of  a  bride  is  called  a  tocher.  The  wedding  feasts  are  scenes  of 
great  mirth  and  hospitality.    It  is  often  the  case  that  they  are  siller 

*  Brande's  Pop.  Ant,  xlviii.  t  Bello  Gall.  vi.  17.  t  Tacitus. 

60 


474 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES. 


bridals;"  otherwise,  those  in  which  the  parties  are  paid  for  the  enter- 
tainment, which  is  sometimes  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  raising  a  few 
pounds  to  begin  the  world  with;  but  the  feasts  are  generally  free,  and 
consist  of  an  abundance  of  every  thing.  In  the  Highlands  the  company 
occasionally  get  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper,  and  there  is  sometimes 
so  numerous  an  attendance  that  many  sheep  are  killed  for  their  enter- 
tainment. A  Mull  wedding  feast  is  thus  described  : — a  long  table  is 
placed  in  a  barn  or  outhouse,  on  which  is  set,  at  convenient  distances, 
meat,  with  eggs,  oatbread,  and  potatoes,  and  near  every  third  person  a 
whole  cheese  and  a  lump  of  butter;  the  whisky,  or  other  liquor,  is  pro- 
vided by  the  bridegroom,  but  the  rest  of  the  entertainment  is  furnished 
by  the  parents  of  the  bride.  In  Tiri,  another  of  the  Western  Isles,  a 
respectable  marriage  feast  was  provided  with  a  profusion  of  mutton,  tur- 
keys, geese,  ducks,  fowls,  custards,  puddings,  vegetables,  butter,  cheese, 
oatbread,  milk,  and  whisky,  all  provided  by  the  parents  of  the  bride,  ex- 
cept she  has  only  a  mother,  in  which  case  the  bridegroom  is  thought 
bound  to  bear  the  expense.* 

In  the  Isle  of  Man,  the  relations  always  bring  something  to  a  mar- 
riage feast.  On  one  platter  you  may  sometimes  see  a  dozen  capons,  on 
another  six  or  eight  fat  geese — sheep  and  hogs  are  roasted  whole,  and 
oxen  cut  up  in  quarters. f 

Dr.  Henry  says  that  within  twenty  or  thirty  years,  when  a  party  in 
Orkney  agreed  to  marry,  they  went  to  the  temple  of  the  moon,  which 
was  semi-circular,  and  there  the  woman  fell  on  her  knees  and  invoked 
Woden,  a  singular  relict  of  superstition.  The  ring  was  a  badge  of  the 
married  state  among  the  Celts,  and  was  worn  both  in  Gaul  and  Briton 
on  the  middle  finger.  That  used  among  the  Northern  nations  seems  to 
have  been  nearly  as  large  as  to  admit  the  whole  hand. 

A  marriage  company,  among  the  Galatians,  all  drank  out  of  the  same 
cup.  When  the  German  bride  entered  in  the  morning  she  was  clothed 
in  a  white  robe,  and  was  crowned  with  herbs  and  flowers,  particularly 
vervain,  which  was  sacred  to  Venus.  A  Lusitanian  woman  was  taken 
into  the  house  with  a  sort  of  violence,  her  husband  dragging  her  from 
the  arms  of  her  brother,  and  she  was  preceded  to  her  new  residence  by 
a  person  who  implored  the  favor  of  Hymen  to  the  happy  couple. 

A  very  ancient  custom  of  carrying  off  a  wife  by  force,  remains  in 
some  parts  of  Ireland  to  this  day.  In  1767,  a  girl  was  carried  off  in  the 
county  of  Kilkenny,  but  was  rescued  and  married  to  another  party. 
The  disappointed  lover  raised  his  friends,  and,  provided  with  arms,  they 
besieged  the  house,  in  order  to  recover  the  prize,  and  although  they 
were  beaten  off  it  was  not  before  lives  were  lost. 

A  Scotish  bride  was  expected  to  show  a  reluctance,  and  require  a 
certain  degree  of  violence,  which  was  neither  thought  unbecoming  in 
the  man,  nor  a  hardship  to  the  woman;  many  instances  being  found  of 


*  Mrs.  Murray's  Guide.  On  this  subject  the  Bridal  of  Caolchairn,"  by  Mr.  Hay, 
will  be  read  with  interest.  t  Waldron's  Hist.  p.  169. 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES. 


475 


happy  unions,  accompanied  with  apparent  force  and  cruelty.  The  prac- 
tice was  sometimes,  however,  carried  too  far,  and  the  real  violence 
which  was  used  constituted  the  raptus,  or  forcible  abduction  of  women, 
of  which  so  many  instances  occur  in  the  legal  history  of  the  country. 
The  unfortunate  Lovat  was  accused  of  this  crime,  in  having  married, 
without  the  lady's  consent,  and  actually  cut  her  dress  from  her  person 
with  a  dirk  !  An  old  north  country  song,  entitled  "  Lord  Saltoun  and 
Achanachie,"  alludes  to  a  similar  act  of  deforcement, 

"  When  she  was  married  she  would  na'  ly  down, 
But  they  took  out  a  knife  and  cut  off  her  gown." 

One  of  the  sons  of  the  celebrated  Rob  Roy  was  hanged  for  carrying 
off  the  heiress  of  Balfron,  more,  however,  apparently  against  her  friends' 
consent  than  her  own,  for  she  lived  some  time  contentedly  with  him  in 
the  Highlands. 

In  the  pastoral  districts  of  Ireland  the  parents  and  mutual  friends 
meet  on  a  hill  side,  usually  midway  between  their  respective  dwellings, 
and  there  drink  "  the  agreement  bottle"  of  whisky.  This  settled,  the 
father,  or  next  of  kin  to  the  bride,  sends  round  to  his  neighbors  and 
friends,  and  every  one  gives  his  cow  or  heifer,  by  which  means  the  por- 
tion is  soon  raised.  Caution  is,  however,  taken  of  the  bridegroom  on 
the  day  of  delivery  for  restitution  of  the  cattle,  should  the  bride  die 
childless,  in  which  case,  within  a  stipulated  time,  each  receives  back 
his  own;  care  being  thus  taken  that  no  man  get  rich  by  frequent  mar- 
riage. On  the  day  of  "  home  bringing,"  the  bridegroom  and  his  friends 
ride  out  to  the  place  of  treaty,  where  they  meet  the  bride,  and  the  cus- 
tom of  old  was  to  cast  short  darts  at  the  bride's  company,  but  at  such  a 
distance  as  seldom  to  occasion  any  wounds;  ''yet  it  is  not  out  of  the 
memory  of  man  that  the  Lord  Hoath  on  such  an  occasion  lost  an  eye. 
This  custom  is  now  obsolete."  * 

The  following  observances  at  a  wedding  in  Wales,  if  not  entirely  dis- 
used, are  fast  dying  away.  Some  weeks  previous,  a  person  well  known 
in  the  parish,  went  round  inviting  all,  without  limitation  or  distinction,  to 
attend.  The  company  assembled  the  evening  previous  to  the  ceremony 
at  the  bride's  father's,  the  bridegroom  arriving  accompanied  by  music. 
The  bride  and  her  retinue  were  then  shut  up  in  a  room,  and  the  house 
doors  being  locked,  the  company  made  loud  demands  for  admittance 
until  the  bride's  maid  opened  a  window  and  assisted  the  bridegroom  to 
enter,  after  which  the  doors  were  opened  and  the  party  admitted.  After 
a  few  hours  dancing  and  a  refreshment  of  oatcake  and  spiced  ale,  the 
bride's  maid  and  company  retired:  the  bridegroom  returning  early  next 
day  with  all  his  friends,  preceded  by  a  harper  playing  "come  haste  to 
the  wedding."  They  were  joined  by  the  bride  at  her  father's,  who, 
along  with  her  brother  or  other  male  relation,  took  their  station  behind 

*  That  is  about  1682.  Sir  H.  Pier's  Description  of  Westmeath,  ap.  Vallancey'a 
Coll.  i.  p.  122. 


476 


MARRIAGE  CEREMONIES. 


the  bridegroom,  with  their  retinue  of  friends,  and  all  proceeded  to 
church.  On  leaving  the  church  the  harper  played  "joy  to  the  bride- 
groom," and  the  bride  and  her  maid  having  changed  partners,  they  all 
went  to  a  part  of  the  churchyard,  if  such  there  was,  unappropriated  for 
interment,  and  there  danced  to  the  tunes  of  "  the  beginning  of  the  world," 
and  '*  my  wife  shall  have  her  way."  They  then  adjourned  home  where 
various  sorts  of  bread,  ale,  and  cheese,  were  prepared,  and  a  collection 
for  the  bride  was  made,  a  benevolence  which  was  not  always  in  money; 
sometimes  the  friends  and  neighbors  went  the  night  before,  carrying 
presents  of  grain,  meal,  cheese,  &c.  It  is  a  practice  among  the  better 
sort  in  these  days  for  the  bride  to  remain  with  her  parents  for  some 
weeks,  and  when  she  goes  to  her  husband,  the  furniture  which  she  has 
provided,  and  which  is  called  starald,  is  removed  with  much  ceremony, 
every  article  being  moved  in  succession,  according  to  fixed  rules.  The 
next  day  the  young  couple  are  attended  by  the  younger  part  of  their 
friends,  and  this  is  called  a  turmant,*  When  parties  separated  in  this 
country,  by  Hwyel's  laws,  the  property  was  equally  divided. 

There  are  several  other  observances  that  are  to  be  referred  to  the 
original  Britons,  such  as  the  cake  broken  over  the  head  of  the  Scot^s 
bride,  on  her  first  entering  her  future  residence.  It  is  a  curious  prac- 
tice of  newly  married  women  to  commence  spinning  and  preparing  linen 
for  their  shroud.  The  bard  who  attended  a  marriage  was  entitled  to 
the  bridegroom's  plaid  and  bonnet. 

Many  superstitious  movements  and  notions  were  occasioned  by  a 
woman *s  confinement,  that  are  not  worth  observance.  In  some  parts  of 
the  Highlands,  we  learn  from  Mrs.  Murray,  when  near  her  time,  a  large 
knife  and  a  spade  were  laid  under  the  bedstead,  and  beneath  the  pillow 
was  placed  the  bible,  while  salt  was  plentifully  strewed  about  the  doors 
to  avert  the  fairies.  These  unearthly  creatures  derive  the  Gaelic  name, 
sithich,  from  sith,  a  sudden  attempt  to  grasp,  which  accords  with  their 
known  propensity  to  carry  off  children.  They  lived  under  little  green 
mounts,  called  sith  dhuin,  which  are  still  approached  by  the  Highland- 
ers with  veneration,  certainly  from  the  supposed  residence  of  these 
beings,  and  not  from  their  being  "  hills  of  peace,"  as  Dr.  Smith  thinks. 

The  Gallic  women  delighted  in  a  numerous  family. "f  The  mode  of 
rearing  children  has  been  described.  They  were  inured  to  hardship  and 
brought  up  in  military  virtue,  and  rude,  but  imposing,  simplicity  of  man- 
ners. No  rights  of  primogeniture,  or  undue  partiality,  engendered 
feelings  of  discord  and  contention — they  were  alike  excluded  from  mix- 
ing in  society,  or  even  appearing  before  their  parents  in  public,  until 
they  were  able  to  bear  arms.  The  children  of  the  Germans  were  held 
in  the  same  estimation  by  their  mother's  brother  as  by  their  father, 
which,  says  Tacitus,  was  an  inviolable  tie. 

*  A.  B.  Table  Book,  ii.  793. 

t  The  Thracian  women  laid  their  new  born  children  on  the  earth  and  wept  over 
them.    Les  difF.  Moeurs,  &c.  1670. 


FUNERAL  RITES. 


477 


Baptism,  it  has  been  shown,  was  a  heathen  rite;  with  the  Christian 
ceremony  the  Celts  retained  many  superstitious  practices.  Handing 
the  infant  over  the  fire,  sometimes  in  a  basket,  in  which  bread  and 
cheese  were  placed,  which  the  Highlanders,  I  believe,  yet  perform  in 
christening  their  offspring,  is  believed  to  counteract  the  power  of  spirits. 
It  certainly  originated  in  some  of  the  druidical  services  to  Baal,  and  is 
perhaps  the  *'  passing  through  the  fire  to  Moloch,"  which  the  Scriptures 
notice  as  a  Gentile  custom.  The  Irish  hung  about  children's  necks  a 
crooked  nail,  a  horseshoe,  or  a  piece  of  wolves'  skin,  not  forgetting  a 
bit  of  St.  John's  gospel,  and  both  it  and  the  mother,  or  nurse,  were  girt 
with  belts  of  womens'  hair,  finely  plaited.*  In  the  Highlands  it  has 
been  said  they  sometimes  baptised  a  child  over  a  broad  sword.  It  was 
a  notion  until  lately,  that  faint  voices  of  children  who  had  not  received 
this  mark  of  consecration  were  heard  in  the  woods  bewailing. 


FUNERAL  RITES. 

The  Druids,  elevating  their  minds  to  the  most  sublime  conceptions, 
boldly  asserted  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  This  belief  inspired  the 
Celts  with  that  contempt  of  death  which  led  to  those  deeds  of  heroism 
by  which  they  signalized  themselves.  The  sublime  doctrines  of  one 
supreme  God,  and  a  state  of  blessed  existence  hereafler,  must  have  had 
wonderful  effects  on  this  race,  naturally  of  a  sanguine  temperament. 
The  belief  that  a  place  of  happiness  awaited  them  in  another  world,  led 
them  often  to  seek  it  by  self-destruction,  when  pressed  by  the  adversities 
of  fortune.  The  Celtic  mothers  would  kill  their  children  to  prevent 
their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  the  children  would  without 
compunction  destroy  their  parents. 

Boiscalus,  the  high-minded  but  unfortunate  chief  of  the  Ansibarians, 
who  were  obliged  to  fight  for  their  very  existence,  which  their  utmost 
efforts  could  not  at  last  preserve,  piously  addressing  the  Sun,  appealed 
to  his  enemies  whether,  the  heavens  being  the  residence  of  the  gods,  as 
the  earth  was  that  of  the  children  of  men,  such  portion  of  it  as  none  pos- 
sessed should  be  free  to  the  destitute,  but  his  unhappy  situation  and  ear- 
nest supplication  only  produced  an  offer  from  Avitus,  the  Roman  gene- 
ral, of  ample  lands  for  himself,  if  he  would  betray  his  people."  *' A 
place  to  live  in,"  replied  the  hero,  "we  may  want,  but  a  place  to  die 
we  cannot,"  and  they  perished  to  the  last  man."}" 

The  Gauls  who  lived  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  being  attacked  by  the 
Romans,  surrounded  and  unable  to  escape,  killed  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren and  threw  themselves  into  the  flames.  Some  who  were  surprised 
and  made  prisoners,  afterwards  committed  suicide,  some  with  iron,  some 
by  strangulation,  and  some  by  refusing  all  food. J    The  Japides,  also, 


*  Memorable  things  noted  in  a  Description  of  the  World, 
t  Tacitus'  Annals,  xiii.  t  Orosius,  v.  15. 


478 


MODES  OF  INTERMENT. 


to  prevent  any  thing  of  theirs  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  Caesar,  slew 
themselves,  their  wives,  and  children,  and  a  few  who  were  taken  alive 
speedily  put  an  end  to  their  captivity  by  voluntary  deaths.*  The  Gallo- 
Grecian  prisoners  attempted  to  gnaw  asunder  their  iron  chains,  and  of- 
fered their  throats  to  be  strangled  by  each  other. |  The  Gauls,  believing 
that  they  should  rejoin  their  friends  in  another  state  of  existence,  did  not 
hesitate  to  accompany  them  across  that  bourne,  which  even  Christians 
think  of  with  doubt  and  anxiety.  The  confidence  of  the  Celt  in  his  fu- 
ture existence  was  full,  and  he  would  write  letters  to  those  friends  who 
had  gone  before  and  transmit  them  at  the  obsequies  of  the  deceased. J 
The  Gallic  prisoners  in  Hannibal's  army  fought  by  lot,  and  the  surviv- 
ors, with  bitter  regret,  complained  of  their  hard  fate  in  not  having  fall- 
en.^ The  wives  of  the  Teutons,  after  their  defeat,  offered  to  surrender 
on  condition  that,  with  their  children,  they  should  be  received  as  the 
slaves  of  the  Vestals,  who  served  that  deity  which  themselves  revered, 
but  their  request  being  denied,  they  escaped  the  vengeance  and  insult 
of  their  enemies  by  mutual  destruction.  Innumerable  instances  are 
recorded  of  the  suicide  of  individuals  after  defeat  or  disappointment. 
Cativulcus,  king  of  the  Eburones,  poisoned  himself  with  an  extract  of 
yew.  Brennus,  on  his  discomfiture  at  Delphos,  either  ran  himself 
through  with  a  sword  or  drank  wine  until  he  died.  Aneroeste  and  Dras- 
ses,  two  other  chiefs,  destroyed  themselves  by  starvation,  and  the  heroic 
Bonduca  put  an  end  to  her  existence  by  poison,  and  was  sumptuously 
buried  by  her  sorrowing  followers.  Many  of  the  Caledonians,  on  their 
defeat  at  the  Grampians,  relieved  their  minds  from  the  dread  of  witness- 
ing their  wives  and  children  exposed  to  the  outrage  of  the  Roman  sol- 
diery, by  laying  violent  hands  on  them. 

The  ancient  Celts  sometimes  burned  the  bodies  of  their  deceased 
friends,  and  sometimes  interred  them  without  that  ceremony.  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  latter  practice  was  in  use  by  the  poor,  yet  in  the  same  sep- 
ulchre there  have  been  found  entire  skeletons  as  well  as  urns  containing 
the  ashes  of  those  bodies  that  had  been  submitted  to  cremation.  The 
Irish,  according  to  Ware,  who  quotes  an  ancient  authority,  "  preserved 
that  cleanly  custom"  long  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity.  The 
Picts  in  Columba's  time  did  not  burn  their  dead,  but  Sturleson  says, 
the  practice  was  more  ancient  among  the  Northern  nations  than  that  of 
burial.  This  is,  however,  improbable;  the  most  obvious  method  to  dis- 
pose of  the  dead  is  by  simple  interment.  Even  the  Romans  at  first 
buried  the  dead,  and  only  began  the  practice  of  burning  the  bodies  in 
consequence  of  hearing  that  those  slain  in  war  were  often  disinterred, 
and  the  practice  was  not  universally  adopted;  many  refused  to  have  their 
bodies  consumed  by  fire,  and  preferred  plain  burial,  like  Varro,  who,  dy- 
ing at  an  advanced  age,  ordered  his  corpse  to  be  decked  with  shrubs 
and  flowers. II    The  Gauls  had  numerous  lights  at  their  funerals, IT  and 

*  Dio.  xlix.  p.  403.  t  Florus,  ii.  11.  t  Diodorus.  v. 

§  Polybius,  iii,  139.  ||  Pliny,  vii.  54.  xxxv.  12.  TT  Durand,  de  Ritibua. 


MODES  OF  INTERMENT. 


479 


we  find  that  the  Christians  did  not  object  to  carrying  torches  on  these 
occasions,  as  it  was  an  innocent  practice. 

At  the  funerals  of  the  Germans,  says  Tacitus,  this  is  carefully  observ- 
ed; with  the  bodies  of  eminent  men  certain  woods  are  burned.  On  the 
funeral  pile  they  put  neither  apparel  nor  perfumes,  but  throw  into  the  fire 
the  arms  of  the  deceased,  and  sometimes  also  his  horse.  In  Gaul,  those 
slaves  who  had  been  most  loved  by  their  masters  sacrificed  themselves 
at  their  funerals.  It  was  usual  among  this  people  to  burn  bonds  and 
accounts  from  a  belief  that  the  person  would  require  them  in  the  other 
world;*  and  persons  would  lend  money  to  deceased  friends  relying  on 
its  repayment  when  they  met  in  the  state  of  future  existence.  It  is  a 
reasonable  conjecture,  that  the  articles  which  were  used  in  life  by  the 
parties  were  buried  with  them,  that  they  might  have  them  to  use  here- 
after. A  stone  hammer  has  often  been  found  in  Celtic  graves,  and  on 
monuments  presumed  to  belong  to  that  people,  this  instrument,  formed 
like  1  and  2  in  the  plate,  is  often  represented  either  by  itself  or  in  the 
hand  of  a  figure.  The  body  of  a  stout  man  was  found  interred  at 
Wilsford,  in  Wiltshire,  at  whose  feet  a  massy  stone  hammer  was  placed, 
and  the  remains  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Scotland  are  often  discov- 
ered with  the  same  implement  beside  them.  It  was,  indeed,  a  Celtic 
practice  to  deposit  in  the  grave  whatever  had  been  particularly  esteemed 
by  its  tenant  when  alive,  or  was  deemed  necessary  for  use  in  the  next 
world,  and  certain  articles  indicated  the  rank  of  the  deceased. | 

Different  methods  of  interment  are  found  to  have  been  practised;  and 
antiquaries  seem  agreed  that  a  most  ancient  position  is  that  in  which  the 
limbs  are  drawn  up  to  the  body.  It  is  likely,  that  the  wishes  of  individ- 
uals respecting  their  mode  of  sepulture  occasioned  that  diversity  which 
is  discovered.  At  Largo,  in  Fifeshire,  a  stone  coffin,  found  beneath  a 
cairn,  contained  a  skeleton,  of  which  the  legs  and  arms  had  been  care- 
fully severed  from  the  trunk,  and  laid  across  it. J  The  bodies  are  also 
found  lying  in  various  positions. 

At  Evreux,  in  1685,  sixteen  or  eighteen  interments  were  discovered, 
the  bodies  in  which  were  placed  side  by  side,  their  faces  turned  to  the 
mid-day  sun,  the  arms  down  by  their  sides,  and  every  one  had  a  stone 
under  the  head.  A  stone  hatchet  was  placed  beside  each,  and  one  was 
formed  of  a  precious  stone.  There  were  also  arrow  heads  of  the  same 
materials,  and  bones,  apparently  of  horses,  sharpened  for  spear  heads, 
and  a  piece  of  deer's  horn  was  fitted  to  receive  one  of  the  axes.  There 
were  also  urns,  and  near  them  a  great  quantity  of  half-burnt  bones,  and 
a  vase  full  of  charcoal  resting  on  a  heap  of  stones  and  covered  by  a  lay- 
er of  ashes  IJ  foot  thick.  A  large  stone,  almost  round,  on  which  were 
three  smaller  ones  was  also  found  in  this  very  curious  sepulchre.  The 
bodies  were  of  the  common  stature,  and  one  of  the  skulls  had  been  frac- 
tured in  two  places,  but  had  been  subsequently  cured. §    Another  place 


*  Mela,  iii.  2. 

t  Stat.  Account,  iv.  538. 


t  Val.  Max.  ii.  6. 

§  Montfaucon's  Antiq.  Expliq.  x.  195. 


480 


MODES  OF  INTERMENT. 


of  interment  was  discovered  in  1685,  at  Cocherell,  in  France,  where 
eight  skeletons  were  found  side  by  side,  each  with  a  flint  stone  under 
the  head,  and  several  stone  hammers.  On  the  summit  of  the  hill  on 
which  the  tomb  was  found,  were  two  stones  about  five  feet  in  length. 

It  appears  to  have  been  an  almost  universal  custom  to  deposit  arms  in 
the  grave  of  a  deceased  warrior.  Quintus  Curtius  relates  that  when 
Alexander  the  Great  caused  the  sepulchre  of  Cyrus  to  be  opened,  there 
were  found  a  shield,  two  bows,  and  a  battle-axe.  This  practice  was 
characteristic  of  a  military  nation,  and  the  belief  that  warlike  deeds  were 
peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  gods,  was  strong  in  the  Celtic  race.  In  the 
mythology  of  the  Northern  nations,  it  was  thought  that  to  fallen  battle 
was  a  sure  passport  to  the  hall  of  Odin,  and  the  arms  of  a  warrior,  espe- 
cially his  sword,  were  carefully  placed  in  the  grave  with  his  remains.* 
That  the  Gauls  deposited  arms  with  the  dead  is  shown  by  numerous 
discoveries.  In  the  grave  of  Childeric,  and  other  kings  of  France, 
their  swords,  javelins,  and  other  weapons,  have  been  found,  and  in 
Britain  the  fact  is  still  oftener  proved. 

The  mode  of  interment  among  the  ancient  Scots  was  thus.  A  grave, 
six  or  eight  feet  deep,  was  made,  the  bottom  of  which  was  lined  with  fine 
clay,  and  on  this  the  body  was  placed,  along  with  the  sword,  if  the  per- 
son had  signalized  himself  in  war,  and  if  a  high  character,  the  heads  of 
twelve  arrows.  Above  the  body  another  stratum  of  clay  was  laid,  in 
which  a  deer's  horn,  as  the  symbol  of  hunting,  with  the  favorite  dog, 
were  placed,  and  the  whole  was  finished  by  a  covering  of  fine  mould. 
Lord  Auchinleck  writes,  in  1764,  to  Dr.  Blair,  in  proof  of  the  veracity 
of  description  in  Ossian's  poems,  that  several  tumuli  had  been  opened 
•  near  the  kirk  of  Alves,  in  Badenach,  which  contained  each  a  skeleton, 
with  the  horn  of  a  deer  placed  at  right  angles  with  it.  A  sepulchral 
mound  at  Everley,  in  Wiltshire,  which  was  opened  by  Sir  Richard 
Hoare,  discovered  three  feet  from  the  top,  the  skeleton  of  a  dog,  and  at 
the  depth  of  five  feet  in  the  bottom  of  the  grave,  were  the  bones  and 
ashes  of  a  human  being.  They  were  piled  up  in  a  small  heap,  which 
was  surrounded  by  a  circular  wreath  of  horns  of  the  red  deer,  and  amid 
the  ashes  were  five  beautiful  arrow  heads  of  flint,  with  a  small  red  peb- 
ble. In  that  ancient  and  beautiful  poem  called  the  "Aged  Bard's 
Wish,"  he  requests  his  harp,  a  shell  of  liquor,  and  his  ancestor's  shield, 
to  be  buried  with  him.  In  Umad's  Lament  on  Gorban,  a  white  hound, 
of  which  he  was  extremely  fond,  he  tells  the  animal  that  they  should 
again  meet  on  the  clouds  of  their  rest."f" 

Nature  seems  to  have  implanted  in  the  human  heart  a  desire  to  honor 
the  dead  by  raising  some  sort  of  memorial  over  their  remains.  Hero- 
dotus says,  the  Scythians  labored  to  raise  as  high  a  mound  as  they 
could,  over  the  grave  of  a  departed  hero.  Heaps  of  earth  or  stones 
were  always  raised  over  the  graves  of  the  Celts;  the  latter,  from  the 
abundance  of  the  materials,  being  chiefly  used  by  the  Scots,  Welsh,  and 


*  Keysler. 


t  Manos,  in  Smith's  Gallic  Ant.  p.  255. 


SEPULCHRAL  MONUMENTS. 


481 


Irish  They  are  denominated  Cairns  by  the  Gael,  and  are  sometimes  of 
prodigious  size,  the  effect  being  often  increased  by  their  position  on 
hills.  Some  are  300  or  400  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base,  and  20, 
30,  or  40  feet  in  perpendicular  height.  The  quantity  of  stones  compos- 
ing these  artificial  mountains  is  astonishing;  some  of  them  have  served 
as  quarries,  whence  neighboring  farmers  have  supplied  themselves  with 
materials  for  building  and  inclosing  for  years,  without  entirely  removing 
them.  Many  have,  indeed,  been  swept  away  in  the  progress  of  improve- 
ment, but  they  are  still  numerous  in  Scotland,  and  continue  "to  speak 
to  other  years"  of  unknown  transactions.  "  Gray  stones,  a  mound  of 
earth,  shall  send  my  name  to  other  times,"  says  the  bard  of  ancient 
days;  but,  alas!  neither  the  size  of  the  Cairn,  the  careful  formation  of 
the  barrow,  nor  the  impressive  "  stone  of  fame,"  has  been  able  to  trans- 
mit a  knowledge  of  the  persons  to  whose  memory  they  were  reared. 
Tradition  has,  with  few  exceptions,  failed  to  preserve  the  name  or  the 
history  of  "the  dark  dwellers  of  the  tomb."  Cairns  were  sometimes 
surrounded  by  an  inclosure  of  stones,  and  sometimes  they  were  sur- 
mounted by  a  rude  obelisk.  There  is  a  particular  sort  in  some  of  the 
Western  Isles,  called  barpinin,  a  Norwegian  word,  according  to  Dr. 
Mac  Pherson. 

The  well  known  practice  among  the  Highlanders  of  throwing  a  stone 
to  a  cairn,  on  passing,  is  connected  with  two  different  feelings.  In  the 
one  case,  it  arose  from  the  respect  which  was  had  for  the  deceased^ 
whose  memory  they  wished  to  prolong  by  increasing  the  size  of  his 
funeral  mount,  and  hence  arose  a  saying,  intended  to  gratify  a  person 
while  alive,  that  the  speaker  should  not  fail  to  add  stones  to  the  cairiL 
It  would  appear  that  the  soul  was  considered  much  pleased  with  this  at- 
tention, and  with  the  honor  of  a  great  monument,  in  which  respect  the 
old  Germans  seem  to  have  differed  from  the  Celts,  for  they  raised  sods 
of  earth  only  above  the  grave,  conceiving  that  large  monuments  were 
grievous  to  the  deceased.  The  other  motive  for  throwing  stones  to  aug- 
ment a  cairn,  was  to  mark  with  execration  the  burial-place  of  a  crimi- 
nal, the  practice,  according  to  Dr.  Smith,  having  been  instituted  by  the 
Druids.  It  is  curious  that  the  same  method  should  be  adopted  with 
views  so  different;  yet  the  fact  is  so,  and  the  author  has  often,  in  his 
youth,  passed  the  grave  of  a  suicide,  on  which,  according  to  custom,  he 
never  failed  to  fling  a  stone.  The  true  motive  in  this  case  seems  to  have 
been  to  appease  the  spirit  which,  by  the  Celtic  mythology,  was  doomed 
to  hover  beside  the  unhallowed  sepulchre.  On  the  death  of  a  respected 
individual,  his  followers  assisted  in  raising  a  suitable  cairn;  and,  cher- 
ishing his  memory,  the  whole  clan  met  on  certain  days  and  repaired  or 
augmented  it.  The  sepulchral  tumuli  in  England  are  termed  barrows. 
The  appellation  is  very  similar  to  the  Hebrew  Kebera,  used  by  Abra- 
ham for  a  burying  place,  and  is  allied  to  the  German  barke,  the  Saxon 
beorgen,  to  hide,  the  English  burrow,  bury,  &c. 

The  barrow  was  formed  with  much  nicety,  and  varied  in  size  and  m 

61 


482 


SEPULCHRAL  MONUMENTS. 


shape.  The  plain  of  Salisbury,  that  interesting  field  of  ancient  sepul- 
ture, contains  the  most  beautiful  specimens  of  all  the  sorts  which  anti- 
quaries appear  to  have  yet  discovered.  They  are  the  long  barrow,  the 
bell,  the  bowl,  the  Druid,  the  pond,  the  twin,  the  cone,  and  the  broad 
barrows,  all  of  which  are  described  by  Sir  Richard  Hoare. 

The  simple  tumulus  seems  the  most  ancient  sepulchral  monument.  It 
was  raised  by  Greeks  and  Trojans,  and  was  common  to  Romans,  Gauls, 
Germans,  and  other  European  nations  ^2000  years  ago.  Charlemagne, 
wishing  to  put  a  stop  to  heathen  practices,  decreed  that  Christians 
should  have  grave  stones  and  not  pagan  tumuli.  The  Celts  certainly  on 
one  occasion  evinced  a  shocking  carelessness  of  the  last  duty.  After 
the  desperate  battle  of  Thermopylae,  they  asked  no  truce  to  bury  their 
dead;  for  which  brutality,  Pausanias  can  suggest  no  excuse,  but  that 
they  may  have  intended  to  strike  terror  into  the  Greeks,  by  displaying  a 
savage  indifference  to  the  usages  of  all  other  people. 

Both  in  cairns  and  barrows  are  found  the  kistvaens,  or  rude  stone 
receptacles  for  the  body,  usually  formed  of  a  flat  slab  at  the  bottom,  one 
or  more  at  each  side  and  end,  and  another  placed  on  the  top.  If  Mac 
Pherson's  translation  of  a  passage  in  "  the  Songs  of  Selma"  is  correct, 
these  stones  were  raised  above  the  grave.  "  Narrow  is  thy  dwelling 
now!  dark  the  place  of  thine  abode!  with  three  steps  I  compass  thy 
grave,  O  thou  who  wast  so  great  before!  four  stones  with  their  heads  of 
moss  are  the  only  memorials  of  thee,  a  tree  with  scarce  a  leaf "  Vari- 
ous interments  are  often  found  in  one  place,  indicating  that  tumuli  were 
a  sort  of  family  burial  places;  they  may,  however,  have  been  used  at 
distant  periods  by  different  people. 

Besides  the  barrow,  or  cairn,  the  British  tribes  erected  either  a  single 
large  stone,  or  several  of  lesser  size,  to  mark  a  place  of  burial.  Fingal's 
supposed  place  of  interment,  near  Loch  Tay,  is  indicated  by  six  ''gray 
stones,"  and  in  Glenamon  stood  Clach  Ossian,  a  block  seven  feet  high 
and  two  broad,  which,  coming  in  the  line  of  the  military  road.  Marshal 
Wade  overturned  it  by  machinery,  when  the  remains  of  the  bard  and 
hero  were  found,  accompanied  with  twelve  arrow  heads.  So  great  re- 
spect had  the  Highlanders  for  this  rude,  but  impressive  monument,  that 
they  burned  with  indignation  at  the  ruthless  deed.  All  they  could  do 
they  did — the  relicks  of  Ossian  were  carefully  collected,  and  borne  off 
by  a  largfe  party  of  Highlanders,  to  a  place  where  they  were  thought 
secure  from  farther  disturbance.  The  stone  is  said  still  to  remain  with 
four  smaller,  surrounded  by  an  inclosure,  and  retains  its  appellation  of 
Cairn  na  Huseoig,  or  Cairn  of  the  Lark,  apparently  from  the  sweet 
singing  of  the  bard.  The  veneration  of  the  Scots  for  the  graves  of  their 
ancestors  is  becoming;  the  Welsh  seem  to  have  less  of  this  feeling,  the 
grave  of  Talliesin,  their  renowned  bard,  having  been  violated,  and  the 
stones  carried  off  for  servile  uses.  In  some  work  which  now  escapes 
my  memory,  it  is  said,  that  three  stones  usually  composed  the  tomb  of  a 
male  person,  two  indicating  that  of  a  female.    It  seems  to  have  been  an 


WAKING  A  CORPSE. 


483 


ancient  practice,  but  perhaps  of  Christian  origin,  to  bury  the  males  and 
females  apart.  In  lona  the  custom  was  retained  within  these  sixty- 
years. 

Among  the  Caledonians,  a  fir  tree  appears  to  have  been  often  planted 
on  or  near  the  tomb  of  a  warrior: — "  a  tree  stands  alone  on  the  hill  and 
marks  the  slumbering  Connal."  The  taxus,  or  yew,  the  Romans  ac- 
counted "  tristis  ac  dira,"  but  the  picea,  or  pitch  tree,  called  pades  by 
the  Gauls,  may  have  been  that  which  was  the  symbol  of  death;  Pliny 
says  it  was  commonly  seen  at  burial  places  in  Italy,*  and  a  branch  of  it 
was  stuck  at  the  doors  of  houses  containing  a  corpse.  By  the  ancient 
Welsh  laws,  a  consecrated  or  holy  yew  was  valued  at  a  pound. 

On  occasion  of  a  death  all  fires  are  extinguished,  and  the  Highland- 
ers put  a  wooden  or  other  platter,  with  salt  and  earth  unmixed,  on  the 
breasts  of  the  dead,  the  earth  being  an  emblem  of  the  body  and  the  salt 
of  the  spirit.  Watching  a  corpse  has,  perhaps,  been  used  from  the  infan- 
cy of  time.  A  tourist  describes  the  manner  in  which  the  old  Highland- 
ers performed  this.  Having  met,  with  a  bagpipe  or  fiddle,  the  nearest 
and  elderly  relations,  for  the  young  people  were  not  so  lugubrious,  open- 
ed a  melancholy  ball,  dancing  and  weeping  till  daylight.  At  these 
meetings,  which  are  termed  lyke  or  late  wakes,  dramas  from  the  poems 
of  Os^iian  were  performed.  Throughout  Scotland  at  this  day  young  and 
old  collect  to  sit  up  with  a  corpse,  but  the  night  is  spent  in  singing 
psalms  and  taking  refreshments.  The  Irish,  on  the  death  of  any  one, 
take  the  straw  of  the  bed,  and,  burning  it  before  the  door,  set  up  the 
death  howl,  as  a  signal  to  the  neighbors,  who,  especially  in  Connaught, 
send  beef,  ale,  bread,  &c.  to  assist  in  entertaining  the  company.  The 
Welsh  called  this  wyl  nos,  lamentation  night,  and  if  the  parties  were 
poor,  the  visiters  took  bread,  meat,  and  drink  with  them.  The  arvel, 
or  arthel  dinner,  given  on  the  day  of  interment  among  this  people,  is  so 
called  from  a  British  word,  arddelw,  to  avouch,  because  the  heir  and 
others  then  showed  that  no  violence  had  been  used  to  the  dead.  By  the 
ancient  laws  of  this  people,  a  corpse  was  insulted  in  three  ways: — to 
stab  it,  to  expose  it,  and  to  ask  whose  it  was,  or  who  thrust  a  spear  in 
it.  For  the  two  last  a  third  of  the  fine  was  abated,  as  the  actions  were 
less  disgrace  to  .the  dead  than  the  living. 

The  anxiety  of  the  Scots  of  all  classes  to  be  respectably  buried  is 
strong.  The  reporter  in  the  Statistical  Account  of  Kincardine,  in  Ross, 
says,  that  all  who  can  by  any  means  afford  it,  lay  up  £2  to  insure  a  de- 
cent funeral.  The  soldiers  of  the  Black  Watch  wore  silver  buttons,  that 
in  case  of  death  there  might  be  wherewithal  to  lay  them  in  the  ground 
with  decency.  I  have  heard  an  old  woman,  who  was  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  living  on  the  benevolence  of  her  neighbors,  express  the 
strongest  dread  at  the  idea  of  being  interred  in  that  part  of  the  church- 
yard appropriated  to  strangers  and  the  poor.  The  desire  of  the  Scots 
to  rest  with  the  bodies  of  their  ancestors  is  extreme;   and  a  corpse  is 


*  Lib.  xvi.  10,  xvn.  40. 


484 


FUNERALS. 


often  conveyed  a  great  distance  to  accomplish  this  object.  It  is  a  feeling 
that  cannot  be  condemned,  although  attended  sometimes  with  inconve- 
nience; the  expense  is  lessened  by  the  willingness  of  neighbors  to  assist 
in  carrying  the  corpse  and  providing  refreshment.  In  numerous  instan- 
ces the  churches  of  the  North  of  Scotland  have  of  late  been  rebuilt  on 
sites  considerably  distant  from  their  former  positions,  and  the  burial 
ground  has,  consequently,  been  left  in  a  retired  situation.  In  this  there 
may  be  no  impropriety;  but  it  has  happened  that  an  heritor,  wishing  to 
improve  his  property,  has  inclosed  the  old  churchyard  by  shrubberies, 
and  stopped  the  road  which  formerly  enabled  the  public  to  approach  it; 
and  the  consequence  has  been,  that  parishioners,  determined  to  fulfil 
the  wish  of  their  deceased  relatives,  have,  in  proceeding  to  their  ancient 
place  of  sepulture,  become  trespassers  on  the  laird's  grounds,  and  suffer- 
ed the  most  vexatious  litigations.  In  General  Stewart's  "  Sketches," 
some  remarkable  instances  of  the  attachment  of  the  Highlanders  to  their 
family  resting  places  are  given.  Dr.  Mac  Culloch  relates  an  anecdote 
to  illustrate  the  pugnacity  of  the  Highlanders,  but  from  which  we  might 
draw  another  inference.  A  desperate  fight  took  place  in  a  churchyard 
respecting  the  right  of  one  party  to  a  certain  burial  place  in  it. 

At  burials,  which  is  the  name  given  by  the  Scots  to  funerals,  the  near- 
est of  kin  preside  at  the  ceremonial,  and  etiquette  usually  obliged  even 
the  widow  to  lead  the  festivities,  however  painful  her  loss.  Mrs.  Murray 
was  surprised  at  an  account  she  heard  of  a  funeral  preparation  in  the 
Isles.  The  deceased  had  been  a  respectable  laird,  but  not  very  rich, 
yet  there  were  six  cooks  for  a  week  at  the  house  preparing  the  feast,  to- 
wards which  meat,  fowls,  fish,  and  game  of  all  sorts,  had  been  sent  by 
the  friends  and  relations.  A  funeral  in  the  olden  time  was  well  managed 
if  it  cost  less  than  £100  Scots.  A  lady  lamenting  the  inconvenient  and 
needless  expense,  requested  her  husband,  should  she  die  first,  to  omit 
the  custom,  but  he  positively  refused  to  do  that  which  would  bring  on 
him  the  obloquy  of  being  not  only  covetous,  but  unfeeling,  and  devoid 
of  that  affection  which  he  had  for  her. 

The  Highlanders  had  no  feasts  nor  rejoicings  at  a  birth,  but  a  fune- 
ral was  conducted  with  all  the  display  which  the  parties  could  make. 
All  the  clan,  and  numerous  neighbors,  were  invited  and  entertained  with 
a  profusion  of  every  thing.  The  male  part  of  the  procession  was  regu- 
larly arranged  according  to  rank,  and,  instead  of  laying  aside  their  wea- 
pons, they  were  all  well  armed  and  equipped  on  such  an  occasion.  The 
statistical  account  of  the  parish  of  Tongue,  in  Sutherland,  informs  us  that 
a  funeral  procession  there  was  regulated  with  military  exactness  by  an 
old  soldier,  a  person  easily  found  in  these  parts.  If  the  coffin  is  borne 
on  a  bier,  he,  every  five  minutes,  or  at  such  time  as  may  be  thought 
convenient,  draws  up  the  company,  rank  and  file,  and  gives  the  word 
"  relief;"  when  four  fresh  bearers  take  place  of  the  others.  There  are 
some  particular  observances  in  Highland  families,  such  as  that  of  the 
Campbells  of  Melfort,  Duntroon,  and  Dunstaffnage,  who  being  de- 


FUNERALS. 


485 


scended  from  a  Duke  of  Argyle,  took  the  following  method  of  cementing 
their  friendship;  when  the  head  of  either  family  died,  the  chief  mourn- 
ers were  always  to  be  the  two  other  lairds.  This  was  the  case  on 
occasion  of  the  death  of  the  late  Archibald  Campbell  of  Melfort.  The 
coffin  was  usually  borne  in  a  sort  of  litter  between  two  horses,  called 
carbad,  a  term  which  is  now  often  applied  to  the  coffin  itself  Carbad 
seems  to  have  been  originally  applied  to  such  vehicles,  and,  when  re- 
stricted to  those  used  for  funeral  purposes,  became  synonymous  with 
the  shell  in  which  the  body  was  deposited.  The  Gaelic  Cobhain,  the 
origin  of  coffin,  in  its  primary  sense,  meant  a  box,  or  any  hollow  vessel 
of  wood.  The  desire  to  be  interred  in  the  sacred  Isle  of  lona  appears 
to  be  as  old  as  the  era  of  Druidism.  The  Druidical  cemetery  is  still  seen 
separate  from  the  others,  and  has  never  been  used  as  a  Christian  burial 
place.  In  the  poem  of  Cuthon,  as  translated  by  Dr.  Smith,  it  is  said 
that  Dargo,  who  is  called  Mac  Drui'  Bheil,  son  of  the  Druid  of  Bel, 
was  buried  in  the  Green  Isle,  an  epithet  given  to  lona,  where  his  fathers 
rested.  In  this  Isle  forty-eight  kings  of  Scotland,  four  of  Ireland,  and 
eight  of  Norway  are  buried,  besides  numerous  individuals  of  note. 
There  were  certain  cairns  on  the  lines  of  road  along  which  funerals 
passed,  both  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  on  which  the  body  was  rested; 
and  some  villages,  particularly  one  at  the  entrance  of  Locheil  from  the 
muir  of  Lochaber,  are  called  corpach,  from  the  circumstance  of  the  cof- 
fin being  laid  down  there  on  the  halt  of  the  company;  corp,  in  Gaelic, 
being  a  body.  Durand  says  that  the  Gauls  used  black  in  itiourning. 
The  Highlanders  have,  I  presume,  ever  done  the  same,  but,  except  by 
the  wearing  of  crape,  I  know  not  how  they  evinced  the  loss  of  their 
relatives. 

In  the  minutes  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  July  1725,  an  account, 
by  a  Mr.  Anderson,  appears  of  a  Highland  chief's  funeral.  The  nearest 
relations  dug  the  grave,  which  was  marked  out  by  the  neighbors;  and 
while  this  was  performing,  women,  who  had  been  hired  for  the  purpose, 
continued  to  sing,  setting  forth  the  genealogy  of  the  deceased,  his  honor- 
able connexions,  and  noble  exploits.  After  the  last  rites  had  been  per- 
formed, 100  black  cattle,  and  200  or  300  sheep,  were  killed  for  the 
entertainment  of  the  company.*  The  feast  must  necessarily  have  been 
great,  where  nearly  the  whole  clan  had  attended,  besides  all  neighboring 
gentlemen,  for  it  was  not  always  deemed  necessary  to  make  a  formal 
invitation,  attendance  being  often  given  as  a  mark  of  respect.  In  the 
Isle  of  Man  the  company  is  not  invited,  but  all  who  had  known  the  de- 
ceased voluntarily  accompany  the  funeral;  and  Waldron  says  he  has 
seen  100  horsemen  and  200  on  foot  in  one  procession.  The  dinners  or 
entertainments  were  often  in  the  churchyard;  in  England  they  were 
sometimes  in  the  church  itself;  and  in  many  cases  the  deceased  left 
money  to  be  expended  in  drinking  for  the  weal  of  the  soul. 

*  Brande's  Pop.  Ant.  ii.  151. 


486 


FUNERALS. 


An  account  of  a  curious  circumstance  that  happened  at  a  Highland 
funeral,  was  thus  related  in  a  Scots'  publication  some  years  ago.  "  The 
inhabitants  of  the  village  of  Glenurchy,  in  Argyleshire,  had,  some  time 
ago,  occasion  to  attend  the  funeral  of  Peter  Fletcher,  a  respectable  old 
man,  who  had  attained  the  age  of  102.  Auchallander,  the  place  of  in- 
terment, is  distant  from  the  village  about  seven  miles,  and  stands  on  a 
lonely  spot  on  the  confines  of  Glenurchy  forest,  and  singular,  as  being 
almost  exclusively  appropriated  to  persons  of  the  name  of  Fletcher. 
Having  proceeded  to  the  spot,  and  paid  the  last  duties  to  all  that  remain- 
ed of  their  friend,  the  nearest  connexions  of  the  deceased,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  Highlanders,  brought  forth  refreshments  for  the  com- 
pany. These  were  spread  out  on  clean  linen,  and  consisted  of  ample 
store  of  bread  and  cheese,  with  a  due  allowance  of  something  stronger 
than  w  ater  to  wash  them  down.  This  part  of  the  ceremony  having  been 
brought  to  a  conclusion,  all  began  to  move  away  in  different  directions 
towards  their  homes.  The  friends  of  the  deceased  were  the  last  to  quit 
the  spot: 'and  before  gathering  up  the  remains  of  the  feast,  they  wander- 
ed a  few  yards  from  the  place,  to  bid  farewell  to  their  acquaintances.  In 
this  way  the  fragments  of  the  bread  and  cheese  were  left  unprotected. 
What  was  the  astonishment  of  the  company  when  they  beheld  three  wild 
deer  issue  from  the  adjoining  forest,  and  actually  commence  an  attack 
on  what  remained  of  the  bread  and  cheese.  On  no  occasion  are  the 
Highlanders  more  liable  to  be  impressed  with  all  the  superstitions  of 
their  counft-y,  than  whilst  engaged  about  their  dead.  The  party  at  once 
concluded  that  the  singular  appearance  of  the  deer  betokened  that  the 
feast  of  mourning  had  been  prematurely  closed.  Each  anxious  to  re- 
move the  portending  evil  far  from  himself,  looked  eagerly  round  to  see 
if  he  could  read  in  the  countenance  of  his  companions  a  forerunner  of 
the  impending  disaster.  Such  prognostications,  it  may  be  presumed, 
are  sometimes  fulfilled  by  the  very  feelings  they  excite.  That  such  was 
the  case  in  the  present  instance  we  shall  not  say,  but  what  followed  was 
ill  calculated  to  remove  the  impressions  which  had  been  entertained. 
John  Fletcher,  brother  to  the  man  whom  they  had  just  buried,  hale  and 
active,  though  ninety-nine  years  of  age,  was  drowned,  a  few  hours  after, 
in  the  river  Urchy,  whilst  on  his  way  homewards." 

A  superstition  once  strong,  still  exists,  it  being  believed  that  the  ghost 
of  the  last  buried  person  is  obliged  to  perform  the  faire-chloidh,  or  keep 
watch,  in  the  churchyard  until  another  corpse  is  brought,  whose  spirit 
relieves  the  former,  and  waits  for  the  next  interment. 

The  practice  of  chanting  at  funerals  is  very  ancient,  and  was  appa- 
rently universal.  Macrobius  says  the  heathens  sang  on  such  occasions, 
because  they  believed  the  souls  of  the  deceased  returned  to  the  original 
of  musical  sweetness,  which  is  heaven.  Lamentations  and  howling  at 
the  grave  were  common  to  the  Phoenicians,  Greeks,  Romans,  and  Celts; 
but  with  the  latter  it  did  not  consist  merely  of  notes  of  wo  —  it  was  an 


CORONACH. 


487 


opportunity  for  the  bards  to  celebrate  the  virtues  of  the  deceased,  and 
reheanse  his  noble  descent,  thereby  improving  the  occasion  by  setting 
before  others  the  advantages  of  a  wellspent  life.  The  Goths  conducted 
their  funerals  in  the  same  manner, — Theodoric,  Jornandes  tells  us,  was 
buried  amid  songs  of  praise.  The  expression  of  sorrow  by  the  relations 
was  miinly  and  becoming.  Of  the  Germans,  it  is  said,  "  Wailings  they 
soon  dismiss,  their  affliction  and  wo  they  long  retain.  In  women  it  is 
reckoned  becoming  to  deplore  their  loss — 'in  men  to  remember  it."  This 
was  the  feeling  of  the  Highlanders,  who  left  the  duty  of  mourning  to  the 
females,  thinking  it  unmanly,  whatever  they  felt,  to  betray  their  sorrow 
by  shedding  tears,  or  show  a  want  of  fortitude  by  the  indulge'nce  of  ex- 
cessive grief.  They  were,  however,  far  from  not  displaying  a  becoming 
sorrow.  "Three  days"  the  Caledonians  "mourned  above  Carthon," 
and  for  some  much  respected  individuals,  annual  commemorations  were 
appointed.  The  Gael  of  more  recent  times  have  shown  extreme  grief  at 
the  death  of  some  of  their  chiefs;  it  is  related,  even  of  the  rude  inhabi- 
tants of  St.  Kilda,  that,  on  one  occasion  when  they  heard  of  the  death  of 
Mac  Leod,  they  abandoned  their  houses  and  spent  two  days  sorrowing 
in  the  fields. 

The  Celts,  who  were  so  partial  to  music,  thought  it  indispensable  on 
occasion  of  death.  The  bards  always  attended  at  the  raising  of  a  tomb, 
besides  singing  the  praises  of  the  dead  in  the  circles;  and  the  poem,  or 
rather  both  it  and  the  music,  was  called  the  coronach.  Without  its  due 
performance,  the  soul  was  supposed  to  wander  forlorn  about  its  earthly 
remains;  but  although  the  practice  of  repeating  it  continued  so  lately, 
if  it  is  indeed  entirely  exploded  among  the  present  Scots,  religion  form- 
ed no  part  of  the  subject.  The  ancient  custom  of  addressing  a  dead  body 
in  broken  and  extemporary,  but  forcible  verses,  is  believed  to  have  been 
given  up  in  the  Highlands  and  Isles  for  more  than  half  a  century;  but  the 
lament  is  still  performed,  and  the  coronach,  or  expressions  of  wo,  that 
may  be  so  termed,  are,  in  some  remote  districts,  still  to  be  Reard  at  fune- 
rals. The  coronach  was,  for  the  most  part,  a  voluntary  effusion,  repeat- 
ed on  the  way  to  the  churchyard,  in  which  the  good  deeds  of  the  deceas- 
ed and  glories  of  his  ancestry  were  extolled.  At  intervals,  numerous 
females  of  the  clan,  who  followed  near  the  coffin,  burst  into  paroxysms 
of  grief,  tearing  their  hair,  beating  their  breasts,  and  making  the  most 
woful  lamentations.  It  resembled  the  cine,*  or  keen,  of  the  Irish, 
which  is  still  performed  in  their  native  land,  and  may  occasionally  be 
heard  when  the  body  is  waked,  in  London.  This  wild  and  melancholy 
dirge  has  been  termed  "the  howl,"  and  gave  rise  to  the  expression 
among  the  English  of  "  weeping  Irish."  It  is  an  extempore  composi- 
tion, descanting  on  the  virtues  and  respectability  of  the  deceased.  At 
the  end  of  each  stanza,  a  chorus  of  women  and  girls  swell  the  notes  into 
a  loud  plaintive  cry,  which  is  occasionally  used  without  the  song.  These 

*  Cina,  in  Hebrew,  is  a  lamentation.    Kuyn,  in  Welsh,  is  a  complaint. 


488 


CORONACH. 


ciners  are  women,  and  many  officiate  professionally.  At  one  of  their 
wakes,  where  I  was  present,  the  widow  was  the  leader,  and  was  assist- 
ed by  one  or  two  who  had  been  hired.  Others,  however,  occasionally 
took  part,  and  the  excessive  grief  displayed  by  them  as  they  stood  wring- 
ing their  hands  over  the  inanimate  body,  and  exhibiting  other  symptoms 
of  bitter  sorrow,  had  an  impressive  effect.  The  Irish  in  remote  parts, 
before  the  last  howl,  expostulate  with  the  dead  body,  and  reproach  it  for 
having  died,  notwithstanding  he  had  a  good  wife  and  a  milch  cow,  seve- 
ral fine  children,  and  a  competency  of  potatoes.  One  of  the  Gordon 
Highlanders  told  me,  that  having,  when  in  Ireland,  gone  with  some 
others  to  a  wake,  the  widow  spoke  with  displeasure  to  the  body  of  her 
husband,  because  he  would  not  take  notice  of  those  who  had  come  even 
from  Scotland  to  see  him!  In  the  Philosophical  Survey  of  the  South 
of  Ireland,  we  find  that  the  elegy  which  the  bards  wrote,  enumerating 
his  riches  and  other  happiness,  the  burden  was  always,  "  Oh!  why  did 
he  die.?" 

The  vocal  lamentations  in  the  Highlands  are  now  almost  confined  to 
*he  act  of  sepulture.  The  Statistical  Account  of  Avoch  in  Ross-shire, 
says,  "  the  lamentations  of  the  women,  in  some  cases,  on  seeing  a  belov- 
ed relation  put  in  the  grave,  would  almost  pierce  a  heart  of  stone." 

The  practice  of  singing  at  a  funeral  was  retained  by  the  Christians, 
who  substituted  their  psalms  and  hymns  for  the  Celtic  laments,  and  it 
was  usual  on  some  occasions  to  employ  a  whole  choir,  who  preceded 
the  corpse.  Waldron  says  the  Manx  funerals  are  met  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  church  by  the  clergyman,  who  walks  before,  singing 
a  psalm,  and  in  every  churchyard  is  a  cross,  round  which  the  company 
pass  three  times.  The  Welsh  played  the  Owdle  barnat  before  a  corpse 
on  its  way  to  the  churchyard. 

The  singing  of  the  coronach  appears  to  have  given  place  to  the  play- 
ing of  the  bagpipes  among  the  Highlanders,  but  it  would  seem  that  both 
were  used  for  ^ome  time.  The  bagpipes  were  more  suitable  to  the  mil- 
itary character  of  the  people,  and  well  adapted  to  produce  those  wailing 
notes,  according  with  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  and  adding  so  much 
to  the  effect  of  the  scene.  The  Cumhadh,  or  lament,  as  already  shown, 
is  a  family  tune  of  a  most  plaintive  character,  and  oflen  very  ancient, 
and  its  performance  is  in  sympathy  with  the  emotions  of  the  company. 
General  Stewart  says  that  the  funeral  of  Rob  Roy  was  the  last  in  Perth- 
shire at  which  a  piper  was  employed.  In  Lochaber  and  some  other 
parts,  these  musicians,  I  believe,  are  occasionally  engaged;  in  the  High- 
lands of  Aberdeenshire,  the  most  inland  district  in  Scotland,  I  can  assert 
that  the  employment  of  pipers  is  by  no  means  uncommon.  I,  of  course, 
speak  of  the  continuance  of  the  ancient  practice,  not  of  its  revival  by 
the  influence  of  individuals  or  societies.  The  funeral  of  the  late  Sir 
Eneas  Mac  Intosh,  of  Mac  Intosh,  who  died  at  a  patriarchal  age,  was 


BURIAL  PLACES. 


499 


attended  by  six  bagpipers,  who  preceded  the  body,  which  was  followed 
by  a  numerous  cavalcade,  playing  the  affecting  lament  of  the  clan. 

The  Scots  gentry  have  usually  family  burial  places  on  their  own  lands, 
and  often  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mansion.  That  of  the  Laird  of  Mac 
Nab,  near  Killin,  in  Braidalban,  is,  like  most  others,  imbosomed  in 
wood,  and  in  a  situation  from  its  seclusion  and  natural  gloom,  in  fine  ac- 
cordance with  the  melancholy  scene — the  conclusion  of  life's  eventful 
drama. 

62 


o 

CD  Co 

CO 


CHAPTER  XV. 


OF  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  LETTERS  AMONG  THE  CELTS. 


That  the  Celts,  at  least  the  Druids,  were  acquainted  with  the  use  of 
•etters  is  certain.  The  roll  found  in  the  camp  of  the  Helvetii,  contain- 
ing the  numbers  of  men,  women,  and  children  who  composed  the  expe- 
dition, is  a  sufficient  proof  that  they  could  write,  were  we  possessed  of 
no  other.  The  principles  and  practice  of  the  Druidical  priesthood  were 
adverse  to  literature  as  the  medium  of  instruction,  and  they  did  not  trust 
their  mysteries  to  writing;  but  is  it  to  be  inferred  that  so  learned  a  body 
were  ignorant  of  this  most  useful  art?  The  signs  or  hieroglyphics  whicjh 
priests  and  philosophers  of  all  ancient  nations  used,  were  of  themselves 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  LETTERS. 


491 


a  sort  of  language,  and  must,  have  led  to  the  formation  of  a  regular  sys- 
tem, by  which  a  mutual  communication  was  established.  The  Celts, 
however,  had  the  use  of  letters  at  a  very  early  period;  the  Turdetani,  a 
people  of  Spain,  according  to  Strabo,  declared  that  they  could  produce 
not  only  traditional  poems,  but  written  documents  of  6000  years'  an- 
tiquity. 

Lhuyd  asserts  that  the  Britons  had  letters  long  before  the  time  of  Tac- 
itus, which  they  imparted  to  the  Irish;  and  Leland,  Pits,  and  Bale,  give 
accounts  of  many  learned  men  who  flourished  and  wrote  about  the  era 
of  redemption  and  even  before;  but  the  early  use  of  writing  does  not  al- 
together rest  on  the  biographies  of  the  above  authors,  whose  authority, 
I  am  aware,  is  often  doubtful.  The  Leccan  records  of  Irish  history  say, 
that  Saint  Patrick  burnt  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  Druidical 
tracts,  and  a  uniform  tradition  has  been  preserved  among  the  bards,  that 
Colan,  or  Columba,  on  his  establishment  in  lona,  burnt  a  heap  of  books 
written  by  the  Britons.*  Their  historians  affirm  that  a  large  colony, 
who  had  taken  refuge  in  Britany  on  the  Saxon  invasion,  carried  with 
them  the  archives  that  had  escaped  the  ravages  of  those  illiterate  rovers, 
which  circumstance  Gildas,  who  wrote  in  the  sixth  century,  alludes  to 
with  regret. 

That  national  annals  and  other  records  did  exist  is  undeniable.  Nen- 
nius,  writing  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  says  he  compiled  his 
work,  among  other  documents,  from  the  writings  of  the  Scots  and  En- 
glish, which,  however,  had  in  frequent  wars  suffered  great  mutilation. 
Gaimar,  a  Frenchman,  who  wrote  on  the  Saxon  kings,  refers  to  a  work 
on  British  history  now  lost;"!"  but,  in  the  prefatory  chapter,  the  use  of 
letters  and  cultivation  of  literature  by  the  ancient  Celtic  inhabitants  of 
these  islands,  has  been  satisfactorily  shown. 

The  Helvetian  Roll  is  said  to  have  been  written  in  Greek  characters, 
from  which  it  would  appear  that  the  Celts  understood  that  language. 
The  same  authority, J  however,  informs  us,  that  on  one  occasion  he  en- 
gaged a  Gallic  horseman  by  promise  of  great  rewards,  to  convey  a  let- 
ter to  Cicero,  which  letter  was  written  in  Greek,  lest,  if  it  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  it  might  be  intelligible,  which  is  so  directly  in  point, 
that  there  is  no  getting  over  it.§  We  can  only  suppose  that  the  char- 
acters resembled  those  used  by  the  Grecians,  for  that  the  Gauls  did  not 
know  Greek,  and  but  few  of  them  Latin,  is  very  certain.  Divitiac,  the 
-S^duan,  for  whom  Caesar  had  a  particular  friendship,  could  not  converse 
with  him,  but  by  the  assistance  of  an  interpreter.  Those  Gauls  who  liv- 
ed near  Massilia  learned  the  Greek  letters  from  that  colony,  but  this  is 


*  Davies'  Celtic  Researches.  Conla,  a  Brehon,  or  Judge,  of  Connaught,  is  said  to 
have  written  a  book  against  the  Druids, 

t  Ellis's  Specimens  of  Metrical  Romances,  i.  X  Caesar. 

§  lb.  et  Dio.  Yet  Greek  inscriptions  were  reported  to  exist  in  Germany,  (Tacitus,) 
and  even  in  Britain. 


492 


OGHAM  CHARACTERS. 


a  particular  case.*  Few,  or  perhaps  no  remains,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
of  the  Celtic  language,  either  on  monuments  or  elsewhere,  remain  to 
prove  what  characters  they  did  use.  Origen,  in  his  answer  to  Celsus, 
said  it  was  uncertain  whether  any  writings  of  either  Gauls  or  Getes 
then  existed. 

Lucian  gives  the  following  curious  account  of  the  Gallic  Hercules:— 
The  Gauls,  in  their  language,  call  him  Ogmius,  and  they  represent  him 
as  a  decrepit  old  man,  bald,  with  a  beard  extremely  gray,  and  a  wrin- 
kled, sunburnt,  swarthy  skin.  But  what  is  most  strange  is,  that  he 
draws  after  him  a  multitude  of  men  all  tied  by  the  ears,  the  cords  by 
which  he  does  this  being  five  chains,  artificially  made  of  gold  and  elec- 
trum,  like  most  beautiful  bracelets;  and  though  the  men  are  drawn  by 
such  slender  bonds,  yet  none  of  them  think  of  breaking  loose,  but  cheer- 
fully follow.  The  right  hand  being  occupied  with  a  club,  and  the  left 
with  a  bow,  the  painter  has  fixed  the  chains  in  a  hole  in  the  tip  of  the 
God's  tongue,  who  turns  about  smiling  on  those  he  leads.  I  looked 
upon  these  things  a  great  while,  but  a  certain  Gaul  who  stood  by,  and 
who,  I  believe,  was  one  of  the  philosophers  (Druids)  speaking  Greek  in 
perfection,  said,  "  I  will  explain  to  you,  O  stranger,  the  enigma  of  this 
picture.  We,  Gauls,  do  not  suppose,  as  you  Greeks,  that  Mercury  is 
speech,  or  eloquence,  but  we  attribute  it  to  Hercules,  because  he  is  so 
far  superior  in  strength.  Do  not  wonder  that  he  is  represented  as  an 
old  man,  for  speech  alone  loves  to  show  its  vigor  in  old  age,  if  your  own 
poets  speak  true;  and,  finally,  as  for  us,  we  are  of  opinion  that  Her- 
cules accomplished  all  his  achievements  by  speech;  and  that,  having 
been  a  wise  man,  he  conquered  mostly  by  persuasion.  We  think  his 
arrows  were  keen  reasons,  penetrating  the  souls  of  men,  whence, 
among  yourselves,  is  the  expression  'winged  words.''*  Thus  spoke 
the  Gaul. 

Ogmius  is  here  a  Celtic  word,  pronounced  and  spelled  by  a  Roman,  yet 
it  is  sufficiently  pure  to  show  its  relationship  with  ogham,  or  ogum,  the 
name  of  that  secret  alphabet  which  was  used  by  the  Druids  and  learned 
Celts.  The  Ogham  characters  were  represented  by  twigs  of  various 
trees,  and  the  figures  resembled  those  called  Runic.  The  Ogham  bob- 
eleth,  and  Ogham  craobh  letters,  are  well  known  to  the  student  of  Irish 
history.  In  the  sister  island,  as  well  as  in  Britain,  inscriptions  on  stones 
have  been  discovered  in  these  characters,  which  Vallancey  was  able  to 
decipher,  particularly  on  one  monument,  which  he  says  is  mentioned  in 
Scotish  Chronicles,  as  in  "the  grove  of  Aongus."  It  informs  us  that 
there  was  the  sepulchre  of  that  hero.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  different  characters  were  adopted,  the  knowledge  of  which  it  may 
have  been  intended  to  confine  to  certain  classes.  There  is  a  stone  at  a 
place  called  the  Vicar's  Cairn,  in  Armagh,  on  which  are  certain  char- 
acters, consisting  of  perpendicular  lines  of  unequal  length,  that  do  not 


*  Strabo,  iv.  p.  181. 


ALPHABETS. 


493 


appear  to  be  ogham  letters.  In  the  isle  of  Arran,  one  of  the  Hebrides, 
are  several  caves,  well  lighted,  which  contain  places  apparently  for  cook- 
ing, 8lc.  and  that  have  rude  lines  cut  in  the  wall.  In  different  parts  of 
Scotland,  and  particularly  in  a  certain  part  of  Galloway,  are  found  num- 
bers of  stones,  many  of  inconsiderable  size,  which  are  marked  witii  vari- 
ous figures.  Specimens  of  these  stones  have  been  submitted  to  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries,  but  their  import,  I  believe,  has  never  been  dis- 
covered. A  remarkable  inscription  is  seen  on  a  stone  at  Newton,  in 
Aberdeenshire,  which  is  represented  in  this  work.  p.  62.  The  characters 
here  used  are  more  conformable  to  the  Gaelic  than  to  the  ogham,  but 
they  are  so  rude,  and  apparently  so  ancient,  that  it  is  impossible  to  de- 
cipher the  inscription,  or  assign  it  a  recent  date.  Vallancey  procured  a 
drawing  of  this  obelisK,  and  conjectured  that  the  two  first  words  are 
Gylf  Gommara,  Prince  Gommara,  but  this  appears  to  be  mere  conjec- 
ture. The  author,  through  a  respected  friend,  transmitted  a  drawing  to 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries  at  Paris,  by  some  of  whose  learned  members 
the  inscription  may  be  elucidated.  The  stone  is  beside  another  of  near- 
ly similar  size,  on  which  are  represented  a  serpent,  circles,  and  those 
other  figures,  which  will  be  presently  described,  and  hence  it  appears 
referable  to  a  remote  and  unknown  era.  The  inscription  is  unique,* 
and  the  characters  are  different  from  those  of  the  Tree  system.  Con- 
cerning this  system  we  have,  indeed,  but  dark  and  mysterious  intima- 
tions, yet  sufficiently  plain  to  enable  us,  I  trust,  to  explain  the  origin  of 
certain  figures  introduced  in  the  sculpture  of  distant  ages,  and  preserved 
in  the  ornaments  of  later  times. 

The  Gaelic  alphabet  consists  of  eighteen  letters,  as  here  shown: 


A.  Ailm,  the  elm  tree.t 

B.  Beithe,  the  birch. 

C.  Coll,  the  hazel. 

D.  Duir,  the  oak. 

E.  Eadha,  the  aspen. 

F.  Fearna,  the  alder. 

G.  Gort,  the  ivy. 

H.  Uath,  the  white  thorn.t 

I.  lodha,  the  yew. 


L.  Luis,  the  quicken. 

M.  Muin,  the  vine.§ 

N.  Nuin,  the  ash. 

O.  Oir,  the  broom. 

P.  Peit  or  pethbhog,  dwarf  elder.]) 

R.  Ruis,  the  elder. 

S.  Suil,  the  willow. 

T.  Teine,  the  furze. 

U.  Uir,  the  heath. 


These  letters  are  chiefly  according  to  the  Irish  pronunciation  and  ac- 
ceptation.   We  here  see  that  they  are  all  named  after  trees,  but  some 


*  AtFordun,  in  the  county  of  Kincardine,  a  stone  was  discovered  under  the  pulpit 
of  the  church,  inscribed  with  characters  somewhat  resembling  the  above. — Trans,  of 
Scots'  Antiquaries,  ii.  pi.  5.  Among  other  sculptures,  on  the  stones  of  a  corridor  at 
Morbihan,  in  Britany,  are  some  unknown  letters. 

t  Vallancey  calls  it  the  palm  5  O'Flaherty,  the  fir. 

t  Dr.  Molloy  does  not  admit  this  letter  into  the  original  alphabet,  and  shows  that  its 
introduction  was  sufficient  to  alter  the  dialect.  Instead  of  H,  a  T  was  used,  as  in  tul- 
loch,  a  hillock,  talla,  a  hall.  §  Originally  the  blackberry  bush 

)j  Sometimes  called  B  sofl,  or  rather  Beith-beag,  little  b. 


494 


ORNAMENTAL  TRACERY. 


of  the  appellations  are  now  obsolete,  as  the  last,  which  is  consequently 
thought  to  be  the  iuthar,  or  yew.  Had  the  Celts  derived  their  alphabet 
from  the  Romans,  or  from  any  other  people,  the  names  would  certainly 
have  been  the  same,  and  the  same  order  would  have  been  preserved, 
which  is  not  the  case  in  the  Irish  Beth-luisnium  alphabet,  which,  it  may 
be  observed,  is  presumed  to  be  according  to  the  ancient  and  proper  ar- 
rangement, and  is  so  termed  from  its  three  first  letters.  It  stands  thus 
— B,  L,  N,  F,  S,  H,  D,  T,  C,  M,  G,  P,  R,  A,  O,  U,  E,  I. 

The  word  aos  in  Irish,  which  at  first  signified  a  tree,  was  applied  to  a 
learned  person;  and  feadha,  woods,  or  trees,  became  the  term  applied  to 
prophets  or  wise  men,  undoubtedly  from  their  knowledge  of  tiie  alpha- 
bet, or  sylvan  characters,  which  were  used.* 

The  "  Researches"  of  Mr.  Davies  have  thrown  much  light  on  Celtic 
Antiquities,  and  in  his  pages  will  be  found  several  passages  from  bardic 
compositions,  which  elucidate  the  tree  system  of  learning.  It  is  well 
known  that  various  trees  and  shrubs  have  been  symbolical,  or  used  as 
tokens,  but  the  learning  of  the  sprigs  consisted  in  arranging,  tying,  and 
intertwining  them  in  various  ways,  thereby  altering  their  expression  or 
import.  There  is  a  work  which  Mr.  Davies  quotes,  in  which  the  author 
says  "he  loves  the  sprigs  with  their  woven  tops,  tied  with  a  hundred 
knots,  afi;er  the  manner  of  the  Celts,  which  the  artists  employed  about 
their  mystery."  Small  branches  of  different  trees  were  fastened  togeth- 
er, and  being  "  placed  in  the  tablet  of  devices,  they  were  read  by  sages 
who  were  versed  in  science,"  The  art  of  tying  the  sprigs  in  numerous 
and  intricate  knots  was  an  important  part  of  the  mystical  studies  of  the 
druidical  order,  and  appears  to  have  been  known  by  few.  Talliesin, 
who  gloried  in  belonging  to  the  profession,  boasts  of  this  part  of  his 
knowledge;  his  acquaintance  with  every  sprig,  and  the  meaning  of  the 
trees,  he  calls  "  understanding  his  institute."  We  thus  see  that  the 
Celts  had  a  method  of  conveying  their  knowledge  to  the  initiated  by  a 
sort  of  hieroglyphic,  or  symbolical  characters,  produced  by  twigs,  or 
branches  of  various  trees,  and  the  characters  which  afterwards  formed 
an  alphabet,  represented  those  branches  and  retained  the  names  of  dif- 
ferent trees.  I  shall  now  draw  the  reader's  attention  to  the  represen- 
tations in  ancient  sculpture  of  these  intricate,  but,  at  one  time,  sig- 
nificant combinations  and  interlacings,  from  whence,  I  conceive,  is  to 
be  deduced  a  style  of  ornament  that  was  long  retained,  not  only  by 
the  Gael,  but  by  others,  without  knowing  to  what  origin  it  was  to  be 
referred. 

The  curious  obelisk  represented  at  the  beginning  of  this  Chapter  is 
situated  in  the  churchyard  of  Dyce,  a  parish  in  the  county  of  Aber- 
deen. Its  position,  near  a  churchyard,  will  indicate  that  the  Christian 
edifice  has  been  planted  on  a  spot  previously  respected,  the  appearance 
of  the  cross  being  no  certain  proof  of  a  Christian  origin,  inasmuch  as  it 


*  The  Hebrew  az,  or  es,  has  precisely  the  same  acceptations. 


ITS  MEANING 


495 


is  known  to  have  been  a  pagan  symbol,  introduced  even  on  sepulchral 
monuments.* 

The  cross  appears  formed  of,  or  filled  with,  a  tracery  produced  by  the 
interlacing  of  twigs,  and  this  sort  of  work  is  common  to  all  such  stones, 
and  appears  also,  but  with  more  taste,  in  the  monuments  known  to  be 
Christian,  and  denominated,  with  propriety,  stone  crosses.  This  orna- 
ment has  been,  by  some  writers,  considered  an  imitation  of  the  Roman 
fret-work,  to  which  it  certainly  bears  little  resemblance.  The  late  Pro- 
fessor Stuart,  of  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen,  speaking  of  the  singular 
sculpture  on  these  stones,  properly  observes  that  the  figures  "  were  not 
employed  merely  as  ornaments,  but  to  express  some  latent  meaning,  at 
that  time,  probably,  well  known,  though,  in  the  lapse  of  ages,  now  total- 
ly lost  and  forgotten,  "f  The  bards  understood  the  meaning  of  these 
figures,  as,  we  learn  from  their  poetical  remains,  where  repeated  allu- 
sion is  made  to  the  "  knowledge  of  the  trees,"  although  the  secrecy  with 
which  their  mysteries  were  preserved,  has  left  us  in  ignorance  of  the 
science. 

Talliesin,  in  his  enthusiasm  for  a  profession,  then  subjected  to  ridicule 
and  persecution,  in  figurative  language  exclaims,  "I  know  the  intent 
of  the  trees,  1  know  which  was  decreed  praise  or  disgrace,  by  the  inten- 
tion of  the  memorial  trees  of  the  sages,  "J  and  celebrates  "  the  engage- 
ment of  the  sprigs  of  the  trees,  or  of  devices,  and  their  battle  with  the 
learned."  He  could  "  delineate  the  elementary  trees  and  reeds,"  and 
tells  us  when  the  sprigs  "  were  marked  in  the  small  tablet  of  devices 
they  uttered  their  voice."  He  does  not,  however,  divulge  the  secret  of 
their  meaning,  but  speaks  of  "  the  Alders  at  the  end  of  the  line  begin- 
ning the  arrangement."  Trees  are  to  this  day  used  symbolically  by  the 
Welsh  and  Gael,  as,  for  instance,  coll,  the  hazel  wood,  being  indicative 
of  loss  and  misfortune,  is  presented  to  a  forsaken  lover,  &c.  whence  ap- 
pears to  have  arisen  the  saying  that  "  painful  is  the  smoke  of  the  hazel. "§ 
Merddyn,  or  Merlin,  the  Caledonian,  not  less  devoted  to  his  religion  than 
the  Cambrian  bard,  laments  that  "  the  authority  of  the  sprigs"  was  be- 
ginning to  be  disregarded.  The  powers  of  this  vegetable  alphabet,  or 
symbolic  system,  were  fated  to  yield  to  those  of  a  different  character. 
This  race,  in  disusing  the  trees,  as  the  secret  means  of  preserving  a 
medium  of  communicating  knowledge,  left  the  ancient  system,  with  as 
little  elucidation  as  the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt,  and  preserved  the  recol- 
lection of  its  former  existence  by  little  more  than  the  names  which  they 
gave  to  the  letters.  The  stones  of  Gwiddon  Ganhebon,  on  which  the 
arts  and  sciences  of  the  world  were  to  be  read,  are  mentioned  in  the  Tri- 
ads, and  are  supposed  to  have  been  inscribed  in  the  ogham  character, 


*  Keysler,  &c.    A  large  cross  is  formed  on  the  face  of  a  hill,  in  Buckinghamshire, 
by  removing  the  soil  from  the  chalk,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  white  horses  of  Wilts 
nd  Berks  are  represented.  t  Trans,  of  Scots'  Ant.  ii 

t  Welsh  ArchsBo.  i.  34.  §  Owen's  Welsh  Diet. 


496 


TRACERY  AND  OTHER  ORNAMENTS. 


and  Gwydion  ap  Don,  an  astronomer,  was  buried  is  Caernarvon  under 
a  stone  of  enigmas.  Whatever  these  sculptures  may  have  been,  it  is  sin- 
gular that  in  Wales  no  stones  are  found  similar  to  those  that  are  to  be 
seen  in  so  many  parts  of  Scotland,  on  which  are  various  figures,  like 
those  on  the  stone  at  Dyce,  as  well  as  some  other  singular  devices  else- 
where introduced.  In  the  Principality,  we,  however,  do  find  some 
monuments  on  which  is  seen  the  intricate  fret-work  which  I  have  every 
reason  to  believe,  if  not  the  actual  resemblance  of  some  of  the  mysterious 
knots  of  sprigs,  is  derived  from  that  singular  practice.  The  interlacing 
of  the  rods  in  the  cross  had  certainly  some  meaning.  The  same  orna- 
ment is  often  seen  by  itself,  and  seems  to  have  been  retained-  when  all 
knowledge  of  its  signification  had  been  lost,  Let  the  reader  compare 
this  tracery  with  that  on  the  handle  of  the  bidag,  page  216,  with 
the  ornaments  on  the  leathern  target,  on  the  brooch,  and  indeed  with 
every  thing  susceptible  of  embellishment  by  the  old  Highlanders;  and  it 
will  be  impossible  from  such  a  similarity,  not  to  perceive  that  their  taste 
was  at  first  influenced  by  some  cause.  I  not  only  think  that  their  pecu- 
liar style  of  ornament  is  to  be  deduced  from  the  art  of  twisting  the  sprigs 
into  significant  forms,  but  that,  as  the  Celts,  who  were  certainly  the 
most  learned  people,  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  gave  to  the 
letters  of  their  alphabet  the  names  of  the  trees,  they  retained  a  vestige  of 
their  intricate  combination  by  their  ancestors,  in  the  fanciful  capitals, 
which  illuminators  of  manuscripts  never  failed  to  introduce.  A  speci- 
men of  these  from  a  manuscript  version  of  the  poems  of  Ossian,  written 
in  the  eighth  century,  and  now  in  possession  of  the  Highland  Society,  is 
introduced  at  the  termination  of  this  Chapter;  but  it  must  be  observed 
that  it  bears  less  resemblance  to  the  Celtic  tracery  than  may  be  seen  in 
many  other  examples.  The  tree  system  in  this  particular  seems  to  have 
influenced  the  writers  of  all  European  countries. 

The  crescent  was  sacred  to  Ceredwen,  the  Welsh  Ceres,  who  hence 
appears  to  have  been  metaphorically  called  "  the  lady  of  the  white  bow." 
This  figure  was  also  the  symbol  of  the  moon.  The  reason  of  its  being 
surmounted  by  the  two  implements  resembling  arrows,  or  javelins,  as 
shown  on  the  stone,  cannot  be  guessed  at,  except  we  believe  they  were 
also  sprigs.  The  zig-zag  figure  is  evidently  the  same  article  under  a 
different  form;  and  both  these  are  frequent  on  such  obelisks,  as  well  as 
the  figure  on  which  they  are  placed,  the  purport  of  which  is  equally  un- 
known. The  small  object  appears  to  be  part  of  the  latter,  and  is  also 
often  introduced.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  consists  of  a  greater  and  les- 
ser circle,  or  globe,  attached  to  each  other,  in  which  case  it  precisely 
resembles  an  article  which  a  figure,  supposed  to  be  a  Druid,  on  a  Gal- 
lic monument,  carries  in  his  hand.*  There  are  occasionally  some  other 
figures  seen  on  these  obelisks,  but  one  of  the  most  usual  and  most  re- 
markable is  here  shown. 


Montfaucon,  iii.  pi.  51. 


MONUMENTAL  STONES. 


487 


(r9 

This  is,  by  Pennant,  supposed  to  represent  the  musimon,  an  animal 
now  extinct,  and  other  writers  have  indulged  their  various  conjectures 
as  to  what  it  is  intended  for.  The  Ceres  of  the  Britons  was  represented 
under  the  figure  of  "  a  proud,  crested  mare,"  and  also  as  "  a  crested 
hen,"  in  which  form  it  appears  on  coins,  brooches,  &c.  If  the  reader 
will  turn  to  p.  369,  (his  favorite  symbol  of  the  Britons  will  be  seen  on 
one  of  their  coins,  and  it  will  be  remarked  that  the  legs  have  a  very  sin- 
gular termination,  both  there  and  in  the  figure  above  shown.  This  god- 
dess was  regarded,  as  it  were,  in  an  amphibious  character,  and,  per- 
haps, the  state  of  the  arts,  or  certain  rules,  did  not  permit  a  nearer 
representation  of  this  mystical  character.  Some  Eastern  relics  have  a 
resemblance  to  this  figure  in  the  circular  formation,  or  ornament  of  the 
legs;  and  even  in  St.  Nicholas's  Church,  Ipswich,  is  a  figure  of  an  ani- 
mal, the  upper  parts  of  the  haunches  of  which  are  finished  in  spirals. 
The  white  bull  was  much  venerated,  and  where  we  can  only  conjecture, 
it  is  worth  observation,  that  the  moon  was  called  bull-horned,  in  the 
Orphic  hymns,  from  its  crescent  form,  and  the  ancient  priests  of  Ceres 
termed  this  planet  a  bull.*  One  of  the  Celtic  fragments  at  Notre  Dame, 
Paris,  represents  a  beast  like  a  bull  in  a  wood,  in  which  are  also  birds. 
This  very  much  resembles  some  of  the  sculptured  stones  in  Scotland  that 
may  have  had  allusion  to  hunting,  concerning  which  many  curious  bar- 
dic traditions  exist.  It  has  been  observed  in  a  criticism  on  a  slight  es- 
say of  mine,  published  by  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  London,  that 
such  figures  are  indicative  "  of  the  acts,  habits,  or  character  of  the  per- 
son commemorated."  This  I  will  readily  admit,  but  the  explanation  of 
the  symbols  from  Olaus  Wormius,  I  conceive,  does  not  apply  here. 
The  wolf  is  an  apt  hieroglyphic  of  tyranny,  and  the  lamb  of  gentleness 
and  innocence,  &c.,  but  how  will  the  above  singular  figures  be  explain- 
ed? The  intimations  of  the  bards,  dark  enough  I  allow,  afford  us  the 
only  light  by  which  we  can  venture  to  attempt  any  solution  of  the  mys- 
tery, and  as  they  appear  in  some  cases  tolerably  satisfactory,  there  may 
still  be  an  agreement,  for  it  is  probable  that  if  sepulchral,  the  tracery, 
rods,  and  other  insignia,  point  out  the  grave  of  one  initiated  in  the  mys- 
terious tree  system  learning  of  the  Celtic  priesthood. 

That  stones  were  erected  to  mark  the  burial  places  of  celebrated  men 
is  not  to  be  disputed,  and  instances  have  already  been  noticed.    It  was 


*  Note  on  Pausanias,  from  Porphyry. 

63 


GAELIC  LITERATURE. 


an  ancient  practice,  and  yet  survives  in  the  churchyard  tombstones.  A 
circular  column,  six  feet  high,^  but  supposed  when  entire  to  have  been 
twelve,  at  Llangollen,  in  Wales,  was  raised  in  memory  of  Conceun, 
who  was  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Chester  in  607,  as  Lluyd  found  by  an 
inscription.  Stones  were  also  placed  in  commemoration  of  remarkable 
events,  even  to  late  ages.  A  rude  pillar  indicates  the  place  where  the 
battle  of  Pentland  was  fought;  and  a  great  block,  raised  by  the  High- 
landers, marks  the  spot  where  the  brave  Viscount  Dundee  fell  in  the 
conflict  at  Renruari. 

The  ceremony  observed  in  raising  a  stone  of  memorial  is  thus  describ- 
ed in  the  poem  of  Colna-dona.    "  Beneath  the  voice  of  the,  king  we 

moved  to  Crona  three  bards  attend  with  songs.    Three  bossy 

shields  were  borne  before  us:  for  we  were  to  rear  the  stone  in  memory 
of  the  past.    By  Crona's  mossy  course  Fingal  had  scattered  his  foes 

 I  took  a  stone  from  the  stream  amid  the  song  of  bards  

beneath  I  placed  at  intervals,  three  bosses  from  the  shields  of  foes,  as 
rose  or  fell  the  sound  of  Ullin's  nightly  song.  Toscar  laid  a  dagger  in 
the  earth,  a  mail  of  sounding  steel.  We  raised  the  mould  around  the 
stone,  and  bade  it  speak  to  other  years." 

To  conclude:  the  race,  especially  in  the  British  Isles,  were  remarka- 
ble for  their  learning,  and,  to  use  the  words  of  a  popular  writer,  for  "  the 
cultivation  of  letters,  that  power  of  imagination  which  seems  in  them  a 
trace  of  their  Celtic  origin,"*  A  most  remarkable  fact  in  the  history  of 
the  Scots  is,  that  from  being  the  most  learned  people  in  Europe,  they 
became  less  noted  for  their  literary  acquirements  than  the  other  Celtic 
nations.  Yet  that  they  did  not  entirely  neglect  literature,  is  evident 
from  the  manuscripts  which  still  remain,  and  those  which  we  find  for- 
merly existed. 

There  are  at  present  upwards  of  three  millions  of  people  in  the  British 
Isles  who  speak  Celtic,  viz.  about  two  millions  in  Ireland,  about  400,000 
in  Scotland,  and  about  700,000  in  Wales.  This  latter  country  began 
very  early  to  pay  considerable  attention  to  the  printing  of  books  in  the 
native  language,  and  by  a  catalogue  in  1710,  there  appears  to  have  been 
then  upwards  of  seventy.  Almanacks,  magazines,  dictionaries,  gram- 
mars, religious  books,  and  even  several  scientific  works,  have  been  pub- 
lished, and  the  number  is  supposed  now  to  exceed  10,000.  The  first 
Welsh  bible,  a  black  letter  folio,  was  printed  in  1568,  the  first  in  Ireland, 
I  believe,  was  in  1609.  Bishop  Kerswell's  Liturgy,  1566,  appears  to 
have  been  the  first  book  printed  in  Gaelic;  the  bible  and  many  other 
books,  among  which  is  not  to  be  forgotten  the  poems  of  Ossian,  from  the 
original  manuscripts,  by  the  Highland  Society,  have  been  since  publish- 
ed, yet  education  and  literature  were  certainly  less  attended  to  by  the 
Highlanders  than  their  characteristic  thirst  of  knowledge  might  have 


Thiery's  Norman  Conquest. 


LANGUAGE  AND  LITERATURE. 


499 


led  us  to  expect;  but  the  cause  is  to  be  found  in  the  unsettled  state  of 
society.  Wales  is  nearly  four  times  richer  than  Scotland,  and  supports 
seven  or  eight  periodicals,  while  Scotland  has  only  recently  established 
one,  the  Teachdaire  Gaelach,  or  Highland  Messenger,  which,  however, 
appears  to  meet  with  suitable  encouragement. 

The  want  of  a  Gaelic  dictionary  was  long  felt  in  Scotland,  but  that  of 
Mr.  Armstrong,  published  in  1825,  was  hailed  with  satisfaction;  and 
the  labors  of  the  gentlemen  employed  by  the  Highland  Society  have 
more  recently  appeared  in  the  "  Dictionarium  Scoto  Celticum,"  in  two 
large  volumes  4to.,  which  will  now  preserve  this  pure  and  valuable  dia- 
lect of  a  language  once  universal  in  Europe.  It  will  also  fix  the  orthog- 
raphy, which  was  previously  so  unsettled.  The  singularity  of  this,  in 
many  instances,  the  reader  must  have  remarked,  and  it  has  not  escaped 
the  notice  of  the  learned,  who  have  suggested  means  of  simplifying  the 
spelling,  by  getting  rid  of  numerous  consonants  which  are  retained  with- 
out being  at  all  sounded.  The  Celtic  Society  of  Glasgow  have  this  year 
offered  four  prizes  for  the  best  essays  on  the  subject,  but  their  exertions 
have  come  too  late,  it  is  to  be  feared,  to  produce  any  effect.  The  appa- 
rently useless  consonants  are  retained  to  show  the  root,  or  primitive  of 
a  word,  and  thereby  prevent  confusion. 

The  Celtic  language  has  been  several  times  the  object  of  legislative 
severity.  In  Ireland  severe  enactments  were  passed  against  it,  as  was 
the  case  in  Wales,  about  1700.  Even  so  late  as  1769,  a  plan  was  en- 
tertained by  the  bishops  to  extinguish  Cumraeg,  by  having  the  church 
service  performed  in  the  English  only;  a  circumstance  that  but  too  often 
occurs,  it  is  to  be  feared,  without  such  a  design.  In  Scotland,  I  have 
often  heard  it  complained,  that  clergymen  were  put  into  a  living  who 
were  quite  unable  to  preach  to  the  people  in  their  vernacular  tongue. 
It  was  attempted  to  root  out  the  Gaelic,  but  as  might  be  expected,  the 
design  was  impracticable.  I  do  not  know  if  the  French  ever  thought  of 
abolishing  the  Breton  language,  which,  by  Lagonidec,  is  said  to  be  still 
spoken  by  upwards  of  four  millions  of  people; — a  trial  would  have  shown 
that  no  measures  could  accomplish  this.  The  case  of  the  Wends,  whose 
language  it  was  attempted  to  repress,  shows  the  impracticability  of  for- 
cibly changing  the  mother  tongue  of  any  people.  In  1765,  it  was  thought 
expedient  to  eradicate  the  Bohemian  language,  and  the  design  was  long 
prosecuted,  before  the  impossibility  of  accomplishing  the  object  was 
discovered. 

The  nobility  and  gentry  of  Ireland  continued  to  speak  their  native 
tongue  until  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  or  James  the  First.  The  Highland- 
ers relinquished  the  practice  of  writing  in  Gaelic,  before  they  had  ac- 
quired any  taste  for  conversation  in  English.  Rory  Mor,  chief  of  the 
Mac  Leeds,  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  of  the  Gael  who  continued  to 
write  in  the  language  of  his  fathers. 


boo 


LANGUAGE  AND  LITERATURE 


Notwithstanding  the  important  assistance  which,  in  acquiring  other 
languages,  would  be  derived  from  a  knowledge  of  this  primitive  tongue, 
there  is  not  a  Celtic  Professorship  in  any  seminary  of  learning  in  the 
kingdom. 


APPENDIX 


TABLE   OF   CLAN  TARTANS. 

The  list  here  given  is  an  Appendix  to  what  has  been  said  of  Tartans 
m  the  Sixth  Chapter  of  this  work,  and  contains  as  many  specimens  as  I 
could  procure  and  authenticate.  I  have  noticed  some  variations  in  the 
patterns  worn  by  different  famiUes  of  the  same  name,  but  I  have  not  in- 
serted any  fancy  tartan.  The  plan  which  is  adopted  in  the  following 
table,  in  perfecting  which  I  had  the  valuable  assistance  of  Captain  Mac 
Kenzie  of  Gruinard,  is  sufficiently  simple,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  accom- 
panying plate,  which  exhibits  a  square  of  plaid  in  its  full  size.  Should 
any  one  desire  to  supply  himself  with  this  pattern,  for  instance,  by  copy- 
ing the  scale,  and  applying  it  to  the  web,  the  object  will  be  accomplish- 
ed. In  like  manner  these  descriptions  are  a  guide  to  manufacturers,  who 
will  now,  it  is  hoped,  produce  the  true  patterns. 

A  web  of  tartan  is  two  feet  two  inches  wide,  at  least  within  half  an 
inch,  more  or  less,  so  that  the  size  of  the  patterns  make  no  difference  in 
the  scale.  Commencing  at  the  edge  of  the  cloth,  the  depth  of  the  colors 
is  stated  throughout  a  square,  on  which  the  scale  must  be  reversed  or 
gone  through  again  to  the  commencement.  There  is,  it  may  be  observ- 
ed, a  particular  color  in  some  patterns  which  can  scarcely  admit  of  de- 
scription, but  which  is  known  to  the  Highlanders,  as,  for  example,  the 
green  of  the  Mac  Kay  tartan  is  light.  The  plaid  which  the  clergy  wore 
is  popularly  believed  to  have  been  used  by  the  Druids  and  Culdees. 
The  Highland  ministers,  it  has  been  shown,  went  armed  and  generally 
dressed  in  the  national  costume.  Martin  describes  a  lay  Capuchin, 
whom  he  met  in  Benbecula,  clad  in  the  breacan,  and  several  within  the 
memory  of  man  continued  to  preach  in  their  native  garb. 


602 


APPENDIX. 


i  of  an 
inch. 

Colors. 

*,„1r  Color. 

Abercrombie. 

1 
1 

blue 

3i 

^2 

4 

green 

black 

white 

1 

blue 

34 

green 

Q 
O 

DiacK 

34 

black 

O 

o 

green 

1 

blue 

1 

1 

black 

1 

black 

2 

white 

1 

blue 

1 

X 

black 

1 

black 

Q 
o 

green 

34 

blue 

Q 
o 

black 

8 

blue 

Buchanan. 

I 

black 

4 

azure 

1 

blue 

8 

green 

1 

black 

1 

2 

black 

Q 
o 

blue 

1 

azure 

Q 
o 

black 

i 

black 

Q 
O 

green 

2 

yellow 

1 

black 

i 

black 

2 

yellow 

2 

yellow 

1 

black 

4 

black 

o 
o 

green 

1 

azure 

8 

black 

4 

black 

1 

blue 

8 

red 

1 

black 

1 

white 

1 

blue 

1 

black 

Cameron. 

4 

blue 

4 

yellow 

This 

is  worn  by 

4 

blue 

the  Duke  of  Ar- 

14 

red 

gyle 

and  the 

8 

blue 

Campbells  of  Lo- 

4 

red 

chaw. 

The  Earl 

8 

black 

of  Braidalban  and 

8 

green 

his  clan,  wear  the 
following  pattern. 

14 

red 

1 

2 

green 

2 

blue 

i 
2 

red 

1 

black 

4 

green 

1 

blue 

4 

red 

1 

black 

1 

2 

green 

1 

blue 

14 

red 

7 

black 

8 

green 

i 

2 

yellow 

8 

black 

11 

green 

4 

red 

4 

yellow 

8 

blue 

7 

black 

14 

red 

6 

blue 

4 

blue 

1 

black 

1 

yellow 

1 

blue 

Campbell. 

Chisholm. 

4 

blue 

24 

red 

J 

black 

8 

green 

^2 

red 

2 

blue 

white 

Q 
X. 

blue 

11 

red 

2 

blue 

1 

white 

2 

blue 

24 

red 

8 

green 

24 

red 

1 

blue 

COLQUHON. 

1 
2 

blue 

1 

black 

6 

blue 

9 

black 

14 

white 

7 

green 

1 

red 

7 

green 

4 

white 

9 

black 

6 

blue 

1 

black 

1 

blue 

Cummin. 

1 

azure 

1 

black 

2 

azure 

5 

black 

4 

orange 

5 

green 

2 

red 

4 

white 

2 

red 

1 

2 

white 

2 

red 

5 

green 

1 

2 

orange 

5 

black 

2 

azure 

1 

black 

2 

azure 

Dalzel. 

6 

red 

i 

white 

4 

blue 

t„°[r  Colons 


2 

red 

13 

green 

2 

red 

4 

blue 

4 

white 

o 
Z 

red 

3 

blue 

2 

red 

i 

white 

4 

blue 

13 

red 

1 

green 

14 

crimson 

14 

green 

Douglas. 

1 

4 

white 

4 

blue 

4 

green 

1 

azure 

1 

black 

1 

azure 

4 

green 

4 

blue 

4 

white 

Drummond. 

1 

4 

white 

1 

azure 

14 

blue 

4 

red 

8 

green 

4 

yellow 

14 

blue 

1 

2 

white 

17 

red 

4 

white 

14 

blue 

4 

yellow 

8 

green 

4 

ed 

14 

blue 

1 

azure 

4 

white 

Farquharson. 

4 

red 

2 

blue 

4 

black 

blue 

black 

4 

blue 

TABLE  OF  CLAN  TARTANS. 


509 


black 
green 
yellow 
green 
black 
•  blue 
1  black 
red 


Ferguson. 
I  green 
6  blue 

6  black 
6 
1 
6 
6 


green 
black 
green 
black 


h  red 
6  blue 
1  green 


Forbes. 
blue 
black 
blue 
black 
green 
black 
white 
black 
green 
black 
blue 
black 
blue 


Fraser. 

21  blue 
i  red 
4  blue 
-h  red 

5  green 

6h  red 


green 


61-  red 


green 

blue 

red 

blue 

red 

blue 

green 


i  of  an  r<«i««i 
inch.  Co'°"- 


6|  red 

1  green 

6  J  red 

5  green 

i  red 

J  blue 

4  red 

5  blue 


ON. 


GORD 

J  blue 
1  black 
51  blue 
6  black 
6 
1 
6 
6 
1 
1 
1 
1 
6 
1 
1 


green 
yellow 
green 
black 
blue 
black 
blue 
black 
blue 
black 
blue 
black 
blue 
black 
green 
yellow 
green 
black 


5i  blue 


black 
blue 


Graham. 
J  black 
I  smalt 
;  black 


-2-  green 
1  azure 


green 
azure 
green 
black 
smalt 
black 


Grant. 
red 
J  blue 
1  red 


Colors. 


18 


5 
1 

J 

21 


2i- 

i 
2 

i 

21 


18 


blue 

red 

azure 

red 

blue 

red 

green 

red 

green 

red 

blue 

red 

blue 

red 

green 

red 

green 

red 

blue 

red 

azure 

red 

blue 

red 

blue 

red 


Gunn. 

i  green 
7  blue 
i  green 
black 
green 
red 


green 

black 

green 

blue 

green 


1 

1 

2 


Hay.* 
black 
red 

yellow 
black 


161  red 

2  purple 

J  red 

I  yellow 

2  red 

15  purple 

I  red 


Vn'ch^"  Colors. 


15 

15 
2 


black 
white 
green 
red 


yellow 


I  red 


green 


161  red 
2 
1 
1 
3 


black 
yellow 
red 
black 


Lamont. 
21  blue 
11  black 
1  h  blue 
black 
blue 
black 
green 


H 

6 
6 

1 J  white 
6 
6 
6 


green 
black 
blue 
11  black 
11  blue 
11  black 


blue 
black 
green 
white 
green 
black 
blue 
11  black 
11  blue 
11  black 


4-1 


blue 


Logan. 

IJ  red 

11  blue 

I  red 

I  blue 

I  red 

7  blue 

5J  black 

7  green 

i  red 

I  black 

1  yellow 


This  rich  tartan  is  claimed  by  the  Leiths. 


504 


APPENDIX. 


*in^c'h?'^  colors. 


black 
red 
green 
black 
blue 
I  red 
I  blue 
1  red 
l|  blue 
2|  red 


Mac  Alastair. 

4  red 

J  light  green 

3  dark  green 

1  red 

1  azure 

1  red 

J  white 

1  red 

1  azure 

1  red 

3  dark  green 
i  red 

J  white 

6  red 

J  azure 

i  red 

11  dark  green 

h  red 

i  azure 

16  red 

^  azure 

i  red 

11  dark  green 

i  red 

i  azure 
red 

I  white 

I  red 

4  blue 
i  red 
I  white 

^  red 

3  dark  green 

^  light  green 

2  red 
J  light  green 

3  dark  green 
}  red 
I  white 


2i 


red 
blue 


Mac  Aulay. 


9 

3i 

li 
5 

5 

li 

5 

i 

5 

li 

3i 

9 

1 


black 

red 

green 

red 

green 

white 

green 

red 

green 

white 

green 

red 

green 

red 

black 


Mac  Donald.* 
i 

1  green 
red 


green 
red 


li 
8 

8 


green 
black 
i  red 
8  blue 
IJ  red 
I  blue 
i  red 
5  blue 
i  red 
I  blue 
11  red 
8  blue 
i  red 
black 
green 


8 
8 

li  red 
1 


green 
red 
green 


Mac  Dougal. 
3  red 
6  green 
1  red 
I  blue 
red 


18 


2 
18 

I 

1 
6 
6 
6 
3 
1 
3 
6 
2 
1 
2 
18 
1 
1 


crimson 

red 

blue 

red 

green 

red 

green 

crimson 

red 

crimson 

blue 

red 

green 

red 

green 

red 


i  of  an  p„,-_ 
inch.  Co'o"'- 


Mac  Duff, 
4  red 
azure 
black 
green 
red 
black 
red 
black 
red 
6|  green 
4  black 
3  azure 
8  red 


3 
4 

6i 
3i 
1 

3i 
1 

34 


Mac  Farlane. 

lOj  red 
h  black 


6 
1 

li  red 


green 
white 


black 
red 
white 
green 
purple 
black 


i 

li 
1 

1 

6 
2 

li  red 

2  white 

1 1  green 

2  white 

li  red 

2  black 


6  purple 

1  green 

1  white 

li  red 

4  black 

li  red  • 

1  white 

6  green 

J  black 

21  red 


Mac  Gillivray. 
h  blue 
red 
azure 
red 
green 
red 
blue 
red 
I  azure 
18  red 
J  blue 
J  azure 
2  red 


i 


18 


J  azure 
I  blue 
red  ^ 
azure 
red 
blue 
red 
green 
red 
azure 
red 
blue 


Mac  Gregor. 
12  red 


6 

2i 
3 

i 

1 


green 
red 


green 
black 
white 
1  black 
3  green 
21  red 
6  green 
24  red 


*  There  is  a  white  stripe  introduced  for  distinction  by  the  Glengary  Clan,  and  Lord 
Mac  Donald  wears  a  pattern  composed  of  red  and  green. 


TABLE  OF  CLAN  TAATAJSS. 


505 


t  of  an 

inch.  ^o^o"- 


Mac  Intosh.  * 


12 

red 

6 

blue 

n 

red 

green 

4 

red 

i 

blue 

4 

red 

green 

red 

6 

blue 

!::4 

red 

Mac  Kay. 


1 

green 

7 

corbeau 

1 

green 

7 

black 

7 

green 

black 

7 

green 

7 

black 

1 

green 

7 

corbeau 

14 

green 

Mac 

Kenzie. 

14 


blue 
black 
blue 
Ij  black 
blue 


black 
7  green 
Ij  black 
white 
l|  black 
7  green 
7  black 
7  blue 
IJ  black 
IJ  red 
11  black 
7  blue 
7  black 
7  green 
IJ  black 
IJ  white 
black 


7  green 

7  black 

1|  blue 

1-^  black 

IJ  blue 

1|  black 

7  blue 


Mac  Kinnon. 

J  white 
li  red 


1 
1 

3 
8 
1 
2 
1 
8 
4 
1 
2 
1 

2 
1 
4 
8 
1 

2 
1 
8 
3 
1 
1 

14  red 


green 
blue 
red 
green 
red 
blue 
green 
red 
green 
white 
red 
white 
red 
white 
green 
red 
green 
blue 
red 
green 
red 
blue 


green 
red 
white 


Mac  Lachlan. 


red 
black 
red 
black 
red 
8  black 
8  blue 
1 J  green 
8  blue 
8  black 
8  red 


1  black 
1  red 


Mac  Lean. 

J  black 

1|  red 

1  azure 

Jl  red 
5 
1 

IJ  white 

1  black 
J  yellow 

2  black 
3|-  azure 


green 
black 


black 
J  yellow 
1  black 
Ij  white 
1 
5 


black 
green 


1 1  red 
1 


azure 


IJ  red 
1  black 


Mac  Leod. 


1  yellow 
J  black 

6  blue 

6  black 

6  green 

1  black 

2  red 

1  black 

6  green 

6  black 

6  blue 

i  black 

2  yellow 


Mac  Nab. 


green 

crimson 

green 

crimson 

red 

crimson 
red 


i  of  an 
incli. 

Colon. 

6 

crimson 

1 

green 

1 

crimson 

1 

green 

1 

crimson 

6 

green 

crimson 

green 

1 

crimson 

1 

green 

6 

crimson 

6 

red 

1 

crimson 

6 

red 

6 

crimson 

6 

green 

1 

crimson 

Mac  NaughtosT. 

J  black 

4  azure 

8  red 

8  green 

6  black 

4J  azure 


8  red 

4  azure 

4  black 

J  azure 

8  red 

4 J  azure 

6  black 

8  gree« 

8  red 


azure 


J  black 


Mac  Neil. 


white 

6 

smalt 

6 

black 

6 

green 

2i 

black 

i 
2 

yellow 

2i 

black 

6 

green 

6 

black 

6 

smalt 

4 

white 

*  The  chief  also  wears  a  particular  tartan  of  a  very  showy  pattern. 
64 


506 


APPENDIX. 


i  of  an     r<-.i^  , 

inch.  ^^'O"^- 


Mac  Pherson.* 


i 

red 

1 

2 

black 

1 
2 

white 

red 

2 

azure 

1 

2 

black 

-1- 
2 

azure 

Z 

black 

2 

azure 

3 

black 

2 

yellow 

4 

ffreen 

'-'2 

red 

1 

azure 

red 

1 

azure 

^2 

red 

4 

green 

1 
2 

yellow 

3 

black 

2 

azure 

4 

black 

i 

azure 

black 

2 

azure 

^2 

red 

1 

2 

white 

1 
2 

black 

1 

'9 

red 

Mac  Quarrie. 


red 

12 

blue 

15 

red 

k 

azure 

2 

red 

i 

azure 

15 

red 

12 

blue 

5 

Ted 

16 

green 

7 

red 

Menzies. 
12  red 
9  green 
1  white 

3  azure 


*i^Jh^"  colors. 

Colors. 

24 

red 

6 

blue 

3 

azure 

1 

black 

1 

white 

2 

blue 

9 

green 

Munro. 

1 

red 

red 

1 

4 

white 

i 

yellow 

1 

2 

black 

1 
2 

blue 

2 

yellow 

H 

red 

1 

purple 

13 

green 

1 
2 

yellow 

1 1 

1 2 

rcQ 

2 

green 

i 

blue 

1 
2 

J  CllU  w 

i 

yellow 

1 

2 

black 

n 
3 

red 

1 

red 

blue 

1 

2 

black 

red 

1 
2 

red 

yellow 

1 
2 

black 

1 
2 

blue 

1 

2 

red 

13 

red 

1 
2 

black 

1-1 

green 

1 

yellow 

H 

red 

2 

green 

green^ 

1 

yellow 

H 

red 

1 

2 

black 

H 

green 

2 

red 

13 

red 

1 
2 

white 

2 

red 

Murray. 

1 

-  2 

Vkl  n  f»  If 

1 

blue 

1 
2 

yellow 

'  1 

black 

2 

green 

6 

blue 

1 

2 

white 

6 

black 

2 

green 

6 

green 

1 

2 

yellow 

2 

red 

1 
2 

purple 

6 

green 

1 

red 

6 

black 

1 

2 

black 

blue 

red 

black 

1 
4 

white 

blue 

.1- 

blue 

black 

1 

4 

white 

blue 

red 

black 

white 

blue 

1 

0 

blue 

black 

red 

blue 

1 

2 

1 

black 

6 

black 

red 

6 

green 

1 

green 

2 

red 

yellow 

6 

green 

1^ 

green 

6 

black 

1 

2 

yellow 

'■„°c'r  colors. 


H 

green 

1 

yellow 

3 

black 

i 

white 

1 

blue 

1 
4 

white 

3 

black 

2 

red 

i 

white 

2 

red 

4 

white 

2 

red 

4 

black 

4 

yellow 

34 

green 

1 

black 

34 

green 

1 

black 

34 

green 

1. 
2 

yellow 

1 
2 

black 

2 

red 

^4 

white 

2 

red 

1 
2 

white 

2 

red 

4 

black 

1 
2 

yellow 

2 

green 

1 
2 

white 

2 

green 

1 

2 

yellow 

1 
2 

black 

2 

red 

1 
2 

white 

2 

red 

1 

2 

white 

2 

red 

1 
2 

black 

1 

yellow 

3^ 

green 

1 

black 

green 

Robertson 

i 
2 

red 

1 

green 

84 

red 

1 

blue 

1 

red 

*  The  chief  has  .recently  dressed  in  a  different  pattern,  which 
formerly  worn  by  his  family. 


is  said  to  have  been 


TABLE  OF  CLAN  TARTANS. 


607 


of  an 


Colors. 


H 

green 

1 

A 

red 

ft! 

green 

red 

green 

H 

red 

green 

red 

green 

red 

J 

green 

red 

ft! 

blue 

red 

o  1 

green 

red 

: 

blue 

H 

red 

green 

1 

red 

green 

red 

blue 

red 

green 

red 

Rose. 

I 

red 

5 

blue 

o 

blacK 

5 

green 

i 

white 

black 

i 

white 

5 

green 

5 

black 

6 

blue 

1 

red 

Ross . 

A  1 

green 

1 

red 

y 

green 

9 

red 

1 

green 

o 

red 

green 

9 

red 

9 

blue 

1 

red 

9 

blue 

9 

red 

blue 

2 

red 

1 

blue 

i 

4 

red 

blue 

9 

red 

Sinclair. 

9 

red 

10 

green 

^2 

black 

1 

2 

white 

4 

azure 

18 

red 

Stewart. 
J  white 
I  red 
black 
red 
green 
black 
white 
black 
yellow 


i  of  an 
inch. 

Colors. 

c 
O 

DlacK 

Q 
O 

azure 

red 

3 

azure 

O 

DlacK 

1 

1 
1 

yellow 
black 

1 

white 

1 

black 

8 
4 

green 
red 

1 

black 

H 

red 

1 

white 

Sutherland. 

5i 

blue 

1 

black 

1 

blue 

1 

black 

1 

blue 

8 

black 

8 
1 

green 
black 

8 
8 

green 
black 

8 

blue 

1 

black 

1 

blue 

1 

black 

8 

blue 

8 

black 

8 

green 
black 

8 

green 

8 

black 

1 

blue 

1 

black 

1 

blue 

'ili!!"  dolors. 


1  black 
11  blue 


URaUHART. 

green 
black 
green 
black 
green 
black 
blue 
red 
blue 
black 
green 
black 
green 


Breacan  na'n  Cle- 
rach,  or  Tartan  of 
the  Clergy. 

J  white 

2J  black 

J  white 

2  gray 

J  white 

5  black 

21  gray 

1  black 
^  gray 
5  black 

I  white 

13  black 

J  white 

2  gray 
J  white 

21  black 

I  white 


INDEX 


Abduction  of  women,  474. 
Aberdeen,  old,  axes  of  the  guard  of,  204. 
.  shire,  flint  arrow  heads  in,  226. 

.  anciently  noted  for  sheep,  288. 

 abundance  of  fish  in, 330. 

Abernethy,  palace  at,  2fi0,  tower  at,  266. 
Abury,  temple  described,  450. 
Achindoer,  earth  houses  at,  260. 
Acts  against  Highland  dress,  184. 

 repealed,  ibid. 

Adultress,  how  punished,  149. 
Aeduans,  their  mode  of  government,  132. 
Agincourt,  battle  of,  229. 

Agriculture,  294— Welsh  laws  respecting,  298— 
respect  of  the  Romans  for,  299,  ». — ancient 
marks  of,  303— in  Hebrides,  304. 

Agrippina,  its  siege,  252. 

Aireach,  105. 

Airisaid,  an  ancient  habit,  179. 
Alarm,  methods  of  giving,  103. 
Albanach, 46, 50. 

 Duan,  an  ancient  poem,  390. 

Albani,  origin  of  the  name,  21,  n. 

 the  Scotish  war  cry,  198. 

Albania,  50. 

Alee,  a  singular  animal,  272. 
Alcis,  worship  of,  459. 
Aldborough,  ruins  at,  257. 
Ale,  Pictish,  345 — herb,  ibid. 
Alesia,  a  Celtic  town,  243. 
Alia,  defeat  of  the  Romans  at,  90. 
Altacholihan,  battle  of,  213. 
Alting,  144. 

Alves,  discoveries  at,  480. 

Amber,  vessels  of,  377. 

Amida,  heroism  of  the  Celts  at,  97. 

Amusements  of  the  Highlanders,  400. 

Anecdotes  of  heroism,  95. 

 Anspaeh,  Margrave  of,  422- 

 Areyle,  Duke  of,  211,  415. 

 Assvnt,  laird  of,  350. 

 Athol,  Duke  of,  280. 

 Boiscalus,  477. 

 Breusa,  William  de,  221. 

 Campbell,  John,  211. 

 Cameron  of  Locbiel,  324. 

 Clan  Rannald,  135. 

 Clark,  George,  421. 

 Kennedy,  424. 

 Clovis,  King  of  France,  105. 

 Coote,  Sir  Eyre,  420. 

 A  Frenchman,  137. 

 Dionysius  the  tyrant,  323. 

 Gordon,  Duke  of,  425. 

 Mac  Bane,  Gillies,  95. 

 Mac  Codrum,  a  bard,  390. 

 Mac  Donald  of  the  Isles,  110. 

 Captain,  211. 

 ofKeppoch,82,110, 140, 

 — —  Donald,  of  Aberarder 


Anecdotes  of  Mac  Gregor,  of  Glenstrs,  333. 

 Mac  Intosh,  James,  417. 

 Mac  Kenzie,  Roderick,  126. 

 Mac  Lean,  of  Coll,  431. 

 Mac  Lean,  John  Garbh,  of  Coll,  417 

 Mac  Leod,  Donald,  211. 

 Mac  Pherson,  of  Cluny,  212. 

Ewen,  390. 


■  Mac  Rimmon,  423. 

Mar,  Earl  of,  211. 

Munro,  of  Culcairn,  126. 
•  Nelan,  an  Irish  bard,  384, 

Robertson,  of  Lude,  211. 

Steuart,  218. 

Stratherne,  Earl  of,  186,  4tc. 


Anglesea,  its  formation,  42. 
Angli,  painting  of  their  bodies,  153. 
Animals,  extinct,  271. 
Anna  clough  mullach,  cave  at,  259,  n. 
Annals,  preserved  by  bards,  388. 
Ansibarians,  their  hard  fate,  31,  477.. 
Aonachs,  or  fairs,  368. 
Apple  trees,  69. 
Aquitani,  32. 

Arable  land,  how  estimated,  300. 

Araradh,  313,  321. 

Archers,  royal  Scotish,  227. 

Archery,  trial  of,  between  Scots  and  English, 

laws  to  encourage,  223. 
Architecture  of  the  Britons,  249,  254. 
Ard  na  soeur,  ruins  at,  257. 
Areopagus,  court  of,  144. 
Argyle,  etymology  of,  291,  n. 
Arie,  employment  at,  291. 
Arkel,  its  peculiar  deer,  274. 
Arms  of  the  Celts ;  number  collected  by  M.  Wade, 
240 — custom  of  exchanging,  ibid — time  of  fix- 
ing, ibid— of  Scotland,  433 — deposited  with 
the  dead,  480. 
Army,  how  commanded.  111 — how  drawn  up,  ibid. 
Arrows,  a  signal  of  war,  104 — sent  to  assemble  a 

ting,  145— how  pointed,  224,  227. 
Arthel,  or  arvel  dinner,  483. 
Arthur's  oven,  a  curious  building,  263. 
Artificers,  British,  their  skill,  376. 

hereditary,  378. 


Arvydd  Vardd,  a  Welsh  herald,  387. 
Arymes  prydain,  Welsh  war  song,  116. 
Asion,  Irish  regal  cap,  176,  n. 
Assemblies,  their  speedy  convocation,  103. 
Assythments,  147. 
Athol,  men  ef,  their  numbers,  77. 
Atticots,  55. 
Augury,  skill  in,  460. 
Auris  Batavorum,  84. 
Auxerre,  cave  at,  2.59. 

Avaricum,  a  Celtic  town,  described, i243 — its  noble 

defence,  95,  250. 
Azores,  40. 

B 

Baal,  or  Beil,  the  chief  god  of  the  Celts,  453— 
ceremonies  respecting,  477. 


510 


INDEX. 


Baal  tein,  feast  of  the  sun,  453. 
Bachul  Murry,  107. 

Badenach,  a  srv'innasium  at,  211 — cave  at,  259. 

Badges,  196— list  of,  197. 

Baggage,  how  disposed,  109. 

Bagpipe,  known  to  Greeks  and  Romans,  420 — 
origin  among  Scots,  421— Highland,  the  only 
national  instrument,  420 — its  effects,  420  to 
422— its  use  encouraged,  425 — used  at  fune- 
rals, 488. 

Baking,  how  performed,  321. 

Balearic  Isles,  201. 

Banchory,  Laird  of,  415. 

Band,  the  hundred,  104. 

Band',  the  supposed  residence  of  Andrea  Ferrara, 
210. 

Bannockburn,  field  of,  223. 
Banquet,  Highland,  account  of,  342. 
Baptism,  a  Pagan  rite,  458. 

Bards,  126— their  duties,  115,  116,  117,  385,  386, 
387,  460— their  portion,  326— education,  385, 
389 — their  compositions,  383 — persecuted,  383. 

Bark  of  trees,  a  manufacture,  155. 

Barmekin,  a  hill  fort,  244. 

Barns,  used  for  drying  corn,  311. 

Barra  hill,  a  Caledonian  fort,  244. 

Barritus,  112. 

Barrows,  sepulchral,  their  varieties,  482. 
Bass,  of  Inverury,  145. 
Battle  axe,  204. 

 shout,112,  198. 

Bear,  a  natural  product  of  Britain,  271. 

Beaver,  once  found  in  Britain,  ibid. 

Beds  of  the  Highlanders,  375 — flock,  invented  by 

Gauls,  ibid. 
Bees,  their  culture,  342. 

Belgffi,  30— arrival  In  Britain,  44 — possessions, 
ibid. — agriculture,  294 — dress,  155,  156. 

Belt,  219 — how  ornamented,  177,  219 — worn  by 
women,  179. 

Ben  Nevis,  mountain,  its  height,  262. 

Beothach  an  Fheoir,  a  singular  animal,  275. 

Bernera,  duns  destroyed  to  build,  262. 

Bidag:  see  Dirk. 

Birch,  a  native  tree,  C8. 

Birlaw  men,  a  rural  jury,  300. 

Bituriges,  their  towns  burned,  2.51. 

Black,  used  by  Gauls  for  mourning,  485. 

Bladair,  the  chiePs  spokesman,  126. 

Blood,  drinking  of,  106. 

Blue,  the  favourite  color  of  the  Britons,  158. 

Boars,  273— hunting  of,  279. 

Boat  racing,  443. 

Bod,  hut  or  cottage  so  called,  256. 
Bodies,  burning  of,  478. 
Boined,  175. 

Bonagh,  an  Irish  exaction,  131 — beg,  do.  ibid. — 
bur,  ibid. 

Bounaughts,  the  pay  of  Galloglasses,  215. 
Bonnet,  forms  of,  176. 
Boots,  origin  of,  J71. 
Boundaries,  22,  298. 

Bow  and  arrows,  220 — Scotish,  223 — when  last 

used,  ibid. — how  made,  ^4. 
Bracc£e,  a  vestment,  described,  170. 
BriE  mar,  famed  for  deer,  274. 
Brahan  Castle,  arms  of  the  Highlanders  delivered 

up  at,  240. 
Braidalban,  men  of,  their  numbers,  77. 
Braonan,  used  as  food,  3)9. 
Brass,  its  manufacture,  371. 
Bratach  shi,  of  Mac  Leod,  195. 
Breacan,  a  sort  of  coat  armor,  181 — feile,  described. 

167— its  usefulness,  183. 
Bread,  321. 

Brechin,  round  tower  at,  267. 

Breeches,  derivation  of  the  word,  171 — mistake 
of  a  Highlander  concerning,  175. 

Brehon,  the  Celtic  judge,  144. 

Breith  a  nuas,  148. 

Brettania,  first  mention  of,  43. 

Britain,  suppositions,  39,  43— etymology  of,  ibid. — 
first  inhabitants,  4!,  42,  43 — intercourse  with 
the  Continent,  44— its  products,  371. 

Britannia,  Romana  and  barbaria,  49. 

British  army,  its  arransement,  110— horses,  228 — 
town  described,  241,  2!2. 

Pritons,  44 — ardent  in  cause  of  liberty,  98 — cor- 
rupted by  Roman  luxury,  99— defensive  ar- 


mor, 185 — offensive  do.— their  retreats,  255, 
259,  267— their  grain,  302— manures,  304— 
cookery,  322— deities,  453— statues  of  do.  449 
—stature,  78— swiftness  of  foot,  82— painted 
their  bodies,  152— expert  charioteers,  231 — 
their  management  of  the  car,  236. 
Broff,  or  shoe,  172. 

Brooch,  its  use,  167— of  Bruce,  180 — of  Glenlyon, 
ibid. 

Browns,  of  Kincardine,  musicians,  412. 
Brynly's  Castle,  a  British  work,  250. 
Brython,  45. 
Buffaloes,  275. 

Builg,  the  Highland  knapsack,  177. 
Burkes,  the,  plundered,  294. 
Butter,  how  made,  319. 


Cairns,  sepulchral,  481, 
Caledonia,  etymology  of,  46. 
Caledonian  ox,  274,  286. 

Caledonians,  first  mention  of,  45 — their  territories. 
47— warlike  renown,  93,  99— oaths,  107— 
dress,  154 — swords  and  spears,  206 — arrows, 
227— cavalry,  228— houses,  255,  257  ,  267— 
agriculture,  294 — food,  318 — prejudice  to  fish, 
329— ships,  362,  364— ancient  dancing,  439— 
modern  do.  440 — tournament,  442 

Calpich,  147. 

Camanachd,  a  game,  443. 

Camerons  of  Lochiel,  their  numbers,  77. 

Campbells,  their  respect  for  Duan  Diarmid,  394 — 
some  funeral  observances  among,  484. 

Cane,  147. 

Cannae,  battle  of,  171. 
Cannibalism,  323. 
Canoes,  remains  of,  361. 
Caoine,  or  Cine,  Irish,  399. 
Cappeene,  176. 

Capercailzie,  a  mountain  bird,  276, 
Carnac,  temple  at,  452. 
Carnbre,  a  British  work,  250. 
Carriages,  314. 

Carrows,  Irish  gamesters,  441. 
Carthaginians,  their  tents,  254. 
Carucate,  300. 

Cascrom,  an  implement  of  agriculture,  309. 
Casdireach,  do.  ibid. 
Cashell,  round  tower  a,t,  266. 
Cassiterides,  islands  of,  40. 
Castell  Corndochon,  a  British  work,  250 
Castles  of  the  Pictish  kings,  260. 
Catharn  ;  see  Cearnach. 
Cath  dath,  a  sort  of  cloth,  158. 
Catherthuns,  Caledonian  strongholds,  244. 
Cathghairm,  Highland  battle  shout,  112. 
Cath  tei,  a  fiery  dart,  205. 
Cats,  wild,  273. 

Catti,  manner  of  wearing  their  hair,  84 — contend 

for  a  salt  river,  328. 
Cattle,  their  ancient  numbers,  285— folds,  289 — 

diseases,  how  treated,  22(i,  292,  293— spoil  of, 

how  divided,  ibid.- -the  first  article  of  traflSc, 

368. 

Cavalry,  228— how  attacked  by  the  Highlanders, 
209_mode  of  fighting  with,  230,  235— Irish, 
229. 

Caves  of  the  aborigines,  259. 

Cearnach,  Highland  light  infantry,  108— their  du- 
ties, 108,  214. 

CeltaB,  etymology  of,  20— their  territories,  30. 

Celtiberi,  32— famous  sword  makers,  208— their 
drink,  343,  372. 

Celto-scyths,  29. 

Celts,  armies  of,  their  numbers,  75— how  raised,  103 
—how  drawn  up.  109— personal  appearance, 
78— dispositions,  88,  89— exploits,  89,  94  to 
96_contempt  of  death,  94,  477— method  of 
washing  and  dressing  their  hair,  Sr — method 
of  attack,  1 12— councils,  136,  137- fought 
naked,  166— treatment  of  malefactors,  148— 
pride  of  dress,  154— splendor  of  do.  178— 
armor,  186— ambassadors,  their  reply  to  Al- 
exander, 98— chief,  how  supported,  122— 
holdings,  135— final  struggle  Ibr  indepen- 
dence, 100— costume,  151— shields,  how  orna- 
mented, 19.5— methods  of  defending  and  at- 
tacking a  town,  250,  251— their  towns,  24S. 


INDEX. 


511 


258 — manner  of  hunting,  278,  281 — prejudice 
to  fisli,  -277 — cookery,  3'27 — aversion  to  pork, 
328— their  gods,  419,  45;}— drank  little  at 
meals,  J  U— recipes, 353— surgical  knowledge, 
357 — their  alllueace,  370 — manufactures,  371, 
378  to  380. 

Celts,  stone  weapons  so  called,  202— curious  dis- 
coveries of,  137. 
Cemetery,  druidical,  at  lona,  483. 
Cetra,  a  sort  of  shield,  189. 
Chaff,  how  separated  from  grain,  312. 
Chain  mail,  a  Celtic  invention,  186. 
Chains,  golden,  a  common  ornament,  178. 
Chariot,  for  war,  described,  231  to  234— races,  236. 
(y'harioteers,  their  importance,  231. 
Chattan,  clan,  fight  at  Perth,  214 — their  gathering, 
427. 

Chanting  at  funerals,  486. 
Cheese,  291,  320. 

Chenerotis,  a  favorite  British  dish,  329. 

Chief,  his  autliority,  103,  105— his  body  guard,  107 
— his  election  in  Ireland,  105— duties  in  war, 
ibid.  100,  111— inauguration,  138— his  name 
used  as  .m  oath,  107. 

Children,  how  reared,  81,  476. 

Chirin,  clan  ;  see  Clan. 

Chisholms,  the,  their  strength,  77— gathering,  427. 

Christmas  ba'ing  of  monymusk,  443. 

Churches,  of  wattle,  255 — covered  with  heath,  268. 

Churn,  invented  by  the  Celts,  319. 

Cimbri,  their  situation,  24— power,  26 — their  daring 

exploits,  37— invasion  of  Italy  and  defeat,  90. 
Cimmerii,  their  situation,  24,  26 — lived  in  caverns, 

259. 

Cincogish,  law  of,  123,  142. 
Cine,  or  Keen,  Irish  funeral  lament,  399. 
Circus,  a  place  of  worship,  145. 
Cisalpine  Gaul,  a  Roman  province,  33. 
Cities,  their  numbers  in  Britain,  Gaul,  and  Spain, 
242. 

Clachan  Ossian,  the  bard's  monumental  stone,  395, 
482. 

Clach  cuid-fir,  a  trial  of  strength,  449. 

Clans,  their  numbers,  76  to  78 — oaths,  107 — Clan 
na  Faiter,  197— Chattan,  fight  at  Perth,  214— 
Chirin,  war  cry,  199— Connan,  133— Munter- 
casduff,  ibid. — Rannald,  war  cry,  199— chief 
of,  anecdote,  135 — his  cavalry,  228 — gather- 
ing, 427— Ricard  war  cry,  200. 

Clanship,  118. 

Classerness,  temple  at,  451. 

Clechda,  300. 

Clergy  carried  arms,  214. 

Cliar,  or  sling,  201. 

Clodh,  158. 

Cloghadh,  or  round  tower,  266. 

Club,  a  military  weapon,  201. 

Clubbar,  an  agricultural  implement,  314. 

Clubbing  hair,  a  mode  of  dressing  it,  85. 

Cnag,  a  singular  bird,  277. 

Coals,  when  first  used,  326. 

Coat  armor,  origin  of,  193,  197. 

Cocherell,  discoveries  at,  480. 

Cosnas,  a  vestment,  155,  166. 

Coffin,  how  carried  by  the  Gael,  485. 

Coin  of  the  Britons,  308— Gaelic  name  of,  309. 

Colda  mo  run,  a  piobrachd,  429. 

Colors,  in  cloth,  how  regulated,  15S. 

Comhairlich,  or  councillors,  130,386. 

Commanders,  how  elected,  105. 

Commerce  of  the  Celts,  .370. 

Common  holding,  its  origin,  296 — advantages,  297. 
Common  law,  of  dniidic  origin,  382. 
Complexions  of  Celts,  86. 
Connan,  clan,  133. 
Cookery,  81. 

Corn,  varieties,  3!'2— how  preserved,  311. 

Cornwall,  ruins  in,  249,  257. 

Coronach,  or  funeral  lament,  399. 

Coronation  stone,  of  Scotish  kings,  137. 

Corpulence  offensive  to  Celts,  317. 

Coshering  fea^^ts  described,  335. 

Costume  of  ancient  (Jelts,  165  to  170— of  the  High- 

landersi,  183— of  the  Irish,  157,  181. 
Cota,  a  Celtic  vestment,  166. 
Cottages,  Highland,  267. 
Cottars,  their  situation,  299. 
Coul,  castle,  described,  264. 


Councils,  general,  109— of  officers,  105 — of  elders, 
136. 

Countries,  districts  so  called,  121. 

Courts  transferred  to  churches,  145 — remoTed,  453. 

Coviniis,  a  sort  of  chariot,  231. 

Crantaraidli  described,  103. 

Creach  explained,  141. 

Crests,  or  badges,  196. 

Crimes,  how  compensated,  &c.  146. 

Cromleach  described,  459. 

Crowns,  golden,  found  in  Ireland,  373. 

Croy,  curious  sculpture  at,  167. 

Crubban,  an  agricultural  implement,  314. 

Cruinneachadh,  or  gathering,  422. 

Cruit,  a  musical  instrument,  415. 

Crutheni,  Picts  so  called,  53. 

Cuaran,  a  sort  of  shoe,  172. 

Cucullus,  a  sort  of  cap,  166. 

Cudgel  playing,  a  favorite  Highland  game,  211 

Cuidoich,  a  servitude,  147. 

Cuirtan,  a  sort  of  cloth,  180. 

Culbin  hills,  discoveries  at,  225. 

Culdees,  primitive  clergy,  471. 

Culloden  battle,  anecdotes  of  heroism  at,  95,  &c. 

Cults,  discovery  at,  225. 

Cumhadh,  or  lament,  399. 

Cummings  slain  by  the  Mac  Phersons,  263— of  Fre- 

uchie,  musicians,  412. 
Cumri,  43. 

Curach,  a  Highland  boat,  363. 
Curmi,  malt  liquor,  344. 
Curragh  of  Kildare,  237. 
Cursus  described,  236. 

D 

Daci,  where  situated,  &c.  28 — their  symbol,  196. 

Dagger,  215  ;  see  Dirk. 

Dairy,  how  managed,  319. 

Dalm.-ek,  ruins  at,  258. 

Dalriada,  settlement  in,  52. 

Dalriads,  account  of,  53. 

Dancing,  437— Highland  steps  in,  440. 

Davach,  a  measure  of  land,  300. 

Days  of  the  week,  their  Gaelic  names,  468. 

Dealg,  177. 

Death,  disregard  of,  477. 

Deemsters,  law  officers  in  man,  144. 

Deer,  274— formerly  domesticated,  286. 

Deities,  Celtic,  453. 

Devana,  its  site,  258. 

Diet  of  the  Highlanders,  324. 

Dining,  ancient  Irish  mode  of,  339. 

Dirk,  216— its  usefulness,  217 — carried  by  the  42nd 

regiment,  218 — ornaments  of  the  hilt,  219 — 

dance,  220,  439. 
Dis,  a  Celtic  god,  455. 
Dishes,  various  Scotish,  325  to  330. 
Divination,  modes  of,  461. 
Divisions  of  territory,  121,  122,  297,  298. 
Dogs,  excellence  of  the  British,  237— of  the  Scots, 

277,  278. 

Dorlach,  the  Highland  knapsack,  177. 
Douay,  singular  custom  at,  466. 
Doune,  manufacture  of  purses  at,  177 — of  pistols, 
239. 

Dower,  marriage,  474. 

Draonaich,  name  of  the  Picts,  295— their  agricul- 
ture, 300. 
Drenthiem,  temple  at,  451. 

Dress,  155— of  the  Gauls,  153  to  155— Highland, 
157,  &c. — prohibited,  174 — manner  of  putting 
on,  167— Irish,  157,  &c.— prohibited,  174. 

Drinking,  manner  of,  in  the  Highlands,  348  to  350 
— among  the  Irish,  349. 

Drinks  of  the  Celts,  Britons,  Picts,  and  Gael,  343, 
344. 

Drovers,  Highland,  393. 
Druid  dubh,'a  bird,  277. 

Druidism,  440,  &:c. — believed  to  have  originated 
in  Britain,  448 — how  taught,  ibid. — its  chief 
seat,  453,  460 — its  abolition,  469 — mixed  with 
early  Christianity,  470. 

Druids,  their  duties,  1 10,  144, 297,  460— their  dress, 
159,  467— their  physical  skill,  353— variety  of 
knowledge,  408,  &c. — mode  of  reckoning, 
468— their  predictions,  ibid.— last  mention  of, 
470. 


018 


INDEX. 


Drumceat,  council  of,  387,  470. 

Drumlanrig,  wild  cattle  at,  286. 

Duan,  a  sort  of  poem,  397. 

Durt  house,  arms  at,  913. 

Duine  uasalf,  an  order  of  society,  124. 

Duinnonii,  their  worship,  400. 

Duns,  Celtic  forts,  31(),      — dun  creich,  247 — 

dornghil,  263— staflnage,  2G7— deer,  247. 
Dundee,  bonnets  made  at,  177. 
Dunvegan  Castle,  shield  at,  191. 
Dyestu^s,  160,  161. 

Dyeing  cloth,  perfection  of  Celts  in,  158,  159,  183. 

E 

Eagle,  276 — mountain,  projected  order  of,  198 — 
feathers  of  the,  badge  of  Highland  nobility, 
ibid. 

Earl,  origin  of,  133. 

Earthen  works,  122. 

Earth  houses,  260,  311. 

Edessa,  statues  of  Celts  at,  97. 

Edgehill,  battle  of,  201. 

Edinburgh,  axes  of  the  town  guard,  204. 

Edwin's  hall,  an  ancient  ruin,  264. 

Elm,  probably  indiyienous,  68. 

Eleusis,  capital  of  Thrace,  29. 

Elf  shot,  225. 

Enach,  147. 

Ensign  stall' of  Mac  Dulfaid,  195. 
Eric,  146. 

Esseda,  a  chariot  so  called,  232. 

Essie,  discovery  of  arrow  heads  at,  225. 

Esus,  or  Hesus",  a  Gaulish  god,  456. 

Everley,  discovery  at,  480. 

Evreux,  discovery  at,  479. 

Eyebrows,  small," esteemed  beautiful,  87. 

Eyes,  color  of,  86. 

F 

Faiter,  clan  na,  their  duty,  195. 
Fairies,  476. 

Fala,  Scots'  army  at,  222. 
Falkirk,  battle  of,  95. 
Fane,  ruins  at,  265. 

Farquharsons,  their  strength,  77— war  cry,  199. 

Fascines,  use  of,  in  battle,  109. 

Fast-brotherhood,  106. 

Farms,  management  of,  314. 

Feadhan  dubh,  or  black  chanter,  435. 

Feasts  of  the  Celts,  331 — how  conducted,  340 — at 

Highland  huntings,  336 — at  funerals,  ibid. 

479— in  Wales,  how  regulated,  337 — of  the 

old  Irish,  339. 
Felt,  a  Gaulish  manufacture,  155. 
Females,  their  beauty,  87 — condition,  148 — respect 

paid  to,  115,  128,  148,  149,  472,  &c.— dress, 

180,  181. 
Fenns,  their  manner  of  life,  254. 
Ferlaoi,  a  hynmist,  385. 
Feudal  tenures,  origin  of,  139. 
Fibulre,  180. 

Fighting,  Celtic,  manner  of,  128. 

Fileas,  an  order  among  the  Tvish,  385. 

Fir,  a  native  tree,  6(j — marked  a  burial  place,  483. 

Firbog,  an  appellation  of  the  Belgaj,  221. 

Fire,  a  signal  of  dancer,  103— its  place  in  houses, 
260 — how  formed,  32ij — sacred,  293 — preserv- 
ed at  Kildare,  454. 

Fire-arms,  237  to  240. 

Fish,  Celtic  dislike  to,  329  to  331. 

Flail,  used  by  the  Celts,  312. 

Flathinnis,  island  of,  42— the  supposed  residence 

of  the  blessed,  463. 
Flaughter  spade,  309. 

Fletchers,  repeaters  of  Ossian's  poems,  391. 

Flint,  weapons  of,  224. 

Flour,  how  made,  313. 

Fogs,  curious  j»henomena  of,  42. 

Fold,"  the  old  man's,"  307. 

Food.  316, 

Foot  ball,  game  of,  443. 

Forbes's,  their  gathering,  427. 

Forests,  of  Britain,  63  to  67— their  productions, 

ibid,  <fec. — causes  of  their  decay,  70. 
Forester,  his  duties  and  perquisites,  283. 
Forts,  vitrified,  246. 


Fosterage,  124. 
Foxes,  273. 

Framont,  singular  field  of  antiquities,  152,  459. 
Franks,  admiration  of  the  Gallic  habit,  155. 
Frasers,  their  military  strength,  76,  77— revolt  of, 

103 — punished  for  mounting  their  badge,  197 

— efi'ects  of  the  pijies  on,  420. 
French,  their  war  cry,  199. 
Frenchman,  anecdote  of,  137. 
Funeral  rites,  477. 
Funeral  monunients,  480. 

Funerals,  of  the  Gauls,  478— Highland,  481,  &C.— 

remarkable  circun>stance  at  one,  486. 
Furniture  of  houses,  375. 

G 

Gaesi,  lance  bearers,  205. 

Gael,  inhabitants  of  Scotland,  46,  47 — their  cuiiottft 

arts,  183,  357,  379,  &c. 
Gaelic  MSS.,  391,  393. 
Gallatians,  or  Gallogreeks,  20. 
Gallerus,  ruins  at,  265. 

Galli,  or  Celts;,  19,  ^c— See  Gauls.— Crests  of,  196. 
Galloglach,  a  sort  of  military,  215 — axe  of,  204. 
Gallovle,  sheep  farm,  its  extent,  209. 
Galweuians,  58 — their  adherence  to  tanaist  law, 
137. 

Games,  Highland,  441 — Irish,  ibid. 
Garters,  173. 

Gatherings  of  Clans,  427— of  sheep,  287. 

Gauir  conrigh,  an  Irish  fort,  244. 

Gauls,  their  invasion  of  Italy,  90 — military  re- 
nown, 91,  94,  98,  &.C, — how  ordered  for  bat- 
tle, 103— their  oaths,  106 — conduct  previous 
to  an  engagement,  112 — despised  defensive 
armor,  185 — their  arms,  186 — their  hunting, 
278— their  delight  in  fine  cattle,  286,  289— 
their  longevity,  134 — were  religious,  462. 

Gavel  kind,  faw  of,  352— abolished  in  Wales,  135 
— in  Ireland,  ibid. 

Geese,  not  eaten  by  the  Britons,  276. 

Gentleman,  Welsh,  indispensibles  of,  131 

Geone,  a  Pictish  cohort,  111. 

Gergovia,  a  Celtic  town,  243. 

Germania,  its  ancient  extent,  32. 

Germanni,  30,  31. 

Germans,  mode  of  coloring  hair,  86 — their  stature, 
91 — their  only  public  diversion,  72 — never 
laid  aside  their  arms,  102 — methods  of  re- 
cruiting armies,  10 1 — their  oaths,  106 — arms, 
185 — houses,  2.58 — asriculture,  259, — respect 
for  their  females,  297,  473— their  funerals, 
479. 

Getas,  or  Goths,  27,  29. 

Gilli-casfluich,  comh  strathainn,  coise,  more,  pio- 
baire,  ruithe,  trusarneis,  126,  127 — callum, 
439,  440. 

Glacach,  a  disease,  353. 

Glaslig,  a  supernatural  being,  303.  n. 

Glastum,  a  dye,  152. 

Glenelg  duns  in,  261. 

Glenlivet,  war  cry  of,  144 — battle  of,  415. 

Glenlyon,  brooch  of,  180 — famous  for  archers,  2S3. 

Glibes,  manner  of  dressing  hair,  85. 

Goats,  275,  286. 

Gode,  or  godordsman,  145. 

Gods  of  the  Celts,  453  to  4.59— of  the  Gael,  458. 

Golden  ornaments,  Cells  loaded  with,  178. 

Golf,  came  of,  443. 

Golspie,  subterraneous  buildings  at,  260. 
Goths,  27,  29,  44,  45 
Graddaning,  313. 

Grain,  301 — how  separated  from  the  straw,  312 — 
reduced  to  flour,  ibid. 

Graine,  a  Gaelic  god,  454. 

Grampians,  battle  of,  C9. 

Granaries  of  the  Britons,  311,  312. 

Grants,  their  force,  77 — of  Moynes,  defeat  the 

Camerons,  141 — their  gathering,  427,  agility  of  two, 
440— defeated  by  the  Mac  Donalds,  436 — of 
Glenmorriston,  their  charm,  ibid. 

Greek  inscriptions,  in  Scotland,  41. 

Grenestede,  wooden  church  at,  2.56. 

Grove,  sacred,  448 — near  Massylia,  described,  466. 

Guanacum,  a  garment  of  the  Britons,  156. 

Guns,  2.3S— Earl  of  Mar's,  ibid. 

Guinneach  cath^an  order  of  battle,  111 


INDEX. 


513 


H 

Hair  of  the  Celts,  its  color,  83 — modes  of  wearing, 

ibid,  to  86 — garments  of,  157. 
Halbert,  a  Scot's  weapon,  207. 
lialidown  Hill,  battle  of,  222. 
Hainden  Hill,  discoveries  at,  232. 
Hamelin,  piper  of,  431. 

Hammers,  deposited  in  Celtic  graves,  203,  479. 
Hardihood  of  tlie  Celts,  82,  101,  182,  &c. 
Hare,  not  eaten  by  the  Britons,  275— used  in  divi- 
nation, 461. 

Harp,  414— Irtsh,  ibid— Welsh,  ibid,  416— Caledo- 
nian, 415,  4It) — of  Ciueen  Mary,  415 — of  Brian 
Boroimh,  416 — key  of,  415 — curious  history 
of  one,  418. 

Harper,  last  Highland,  414. 

Harvest,  its  management  in  the  Highlands,  310. 

Hats,  beaver,  used  by  the  ancient  Welsh,  175 — 
adopted  by  the  Highlanders,  176. 

Hawking,  284. 

Hawks,  master  of,  his  duties  and  perquisites  in 

Wales,  284. 
Hawthorn  den,  caves  at,  259. 
Hebudie  islands,  king  of,  123,  131. 
Helmets,  187. 

Helvetii,  31— their  forces,  75— law  of  130— their 
muster  roll,  420. 

Hens,  not  eaten  by  the  Britons,  276. 

Herald,  anecdote  of  one,  196. 

Herbs,  their  imputed  virtues,  355. 

Herefordshire  beacon,  a  British  strength,  244. 

Herrings,  how  cured  in  Sky,  331. 

Hertha,  a  deity,  worship  of,  107,  455. 

Hiberni,  or  Hyberni,  Scots  formerly  so  called,  52. 

Hibernia,  the  ancient  name  of  Scotland,  47. 

Highland,  companies,  their  degeneracy,  101 — 
knights  errant, 140 — regiments,  their  uniform, 
168— garb  described,  169,  &c. — nobleman, 
portrait  of,  190— club  of  Edinburgh,  239— 
farm  described,  299,  301— tenantry,  former 
state  of,  315— banquet,  341. 

Highlanders,  their  native  denomination,  46 — per- 
sonal appearance,  81— hardihood,  82,  101, 
182,  &c.— conduct  in  1745,  100— order  of 
march.  111 — manner  of  fighting,  166 — dress 
restrained,  184,— restored,  ibid.— armor,  186 
— fought  with  clubs,  201 — their  onset,  212, 
attack  with  fire  arms,  239,  240— at  the  battle 
of  the  Standard,  110— their  horses,  229— dis- 
armed, 184, 240— dexterity  in  hunting,  280— 
mode  of  pasturage,  291 — agriculture,  304  to  307 
— superstitions  respecting,  ibid. — contempt 
for  delicacies,  317 — hospitality,  331 — temper- 
ance, 349 — longevity,  359 — manufactures,  373 
to  379 — talent  for  rhyming,  431 — excel  in 
dancing,  439 — modes  of  divination,  461 — their 
religious  feelings,  471— anxiety  for  a  decent 
interment,  483. 

Highlands,  favorable  to  fruit  trees,  69. 

History,  preserved  in  verse,  382,  383. 

Hobblers,  Irish  horsemen,  229. 

Honey  drink,  of  the  Gael,  343. 

Horse  soldiers,  of  Inverness  and  Moray,  77 — Cel- 
tic, their,  dress,  230— racing  introduced  from 
Scotland,  237. 

Horses,  method  of  breaking,  229 — wild,  278. 

Hospitality,  Celts  remarkable  for,  331. 

Houses,  Highland,  255,  256— of  the  Britons,  268. 

Hunting,  270,  279— Highland,  ibid.,  281,  282— 
Welsh,  laws  respecting,  230 — Scots'  do.  ib.  of 
King  James  V.  281— royal  283. 

Hybrasil,  island  of  42. 

Hyperborei,  23 — their  island,  41. 

Hubbub,  Welsh,  104. 


I 

larflath,  a  title  of  honor,  133. 
Iclis,  island  of,  40. 
lern,  ancient  name  of  Ireland,  48. 
Implements  of  husbandry,  307. 
Inheritance,  modes  of,  134. 
Interment,  modes  of,  479  to  483. 
Inverlochy,  castle  of,  2^7. 
Inverness,  large  ship  built  at,  364. 

65 


lona,  first  church  at,  255 — the  retreat  of  the  Dru- 
ids, 470. 

Ireland,  its  ancient  name,  48 — Gaelic  of,  its  sup- 
posed introduction  to  Scotland,  62 — woods, 
6() — subterraneous  buildings  in,  259 — stone 
do.  264. 

Irish,  theirstature,  81 — glibes,  85 — order  of  march- 
ing, 111— bond  of  friendship,  106— wore  hair 
garments,  157 — war  cries,  199 — dress,  179, 
183 — prohibited,  ibid — armor,  187 — dexterous 
stone  throwers,  145,— archery,  221— pride  in 
horses,  229,  233 — cannibalism,  324 — mode  of 
living,  318 — music,  430 — dancing,  438 — ^jest- 
ers, 441— manner  of  espousal,  475— waking 
the  dead,  487. 

Iron,  chains  and  plates  of,  worn  by  the  Picts  and 
Caledonians,  178 — manufacture  of,  in  the 
Highlands,  .372. 

Isis,  goddess  of  Paris,  her  statue,  449. 

Isla,  celebrated  for  manufacture  of  swordhilts,210. 

Islands,  formed  by  inundations,  42. 

Italy,  its  inhabitants,  33. 

luhones,  singular  conduct  of  the,  455. 

J 

Jacket,  how  made,  163. 

Jedworth  staff,  201. 

Jigs,  Scots  and  Irish  described,  413. 

Judge,  Celtic,  144. 

Jurah,  cottages  in,  256. 

K 

Kale,  or  Cole,  first  used  by  the  Grants,  319. 
Kent,  its  peculiar  customs,  134. 
Keppoch,  family  murdered,  405 — lament  for,  429 
Kern,  108,214.    See  Cearnach. 
Keys,  civil  officers  in  Man,  144. 
Kildrummie,  eird  houses  at,  260,  311. 
Killicrankie,  battle  of,  217. 
Killin,  a  remarkable  plain,  301. 
Kilmarnock,  famed  for  manufacture  of  bonnets, 
177. 

Kimmeridge  coal  money,  369. 
Kincogish,  law  of,  123,  142. 
Kineigh,  singular  tower  at,  266.  n. 
Kingusie,  rath  of,  453. 
Kinkynell,  law  of,  133. 
Kismul,  island,  castle  in,  252. 
Knife  and  fork,  219,  340. 
Knighthood,  its  origin,  140. 
Knock  ferrel,  a  vitrified  fort,  248. 

L 

Lachdan,  a  sort  of  cloth,  157,  1.58. 

Ladies,  Highland,  their  dress,  180— German  do.  182. 

La  mas  uhhal,  feast  of,  338. 

Laments,  Gaelic,  428. 

Languages,  33  to  37— British,  Scotish,  Saxon,  &c. 
58  to  62 — Gaelic,  to  what  extent  changed, 
39.5 — its  adaptation  to  poetry,  399. 

Lankia,  a  lance,  205. 

Largo,  singular  interment  at,  479. 

Largs,  battle  of,  201,  219,  237. 

Larignum,  seige  of,  245. 

Launceston  Castle,  a  British  work,  249. 

Laws,  143— codes  of,  ibid.— of  colors,  159 — pre- 
served in  oral  rhyme,  381. 

Lead,  its  manufacture,  371— balls  of,  used  for  mis- 
siles, 201. 

Leaders  of  armies,  how  chosen,  105 — controlled 

by  their  troops,  106. 
Lenicroich,  or  saffron  shirt,  181. 
Leslie  among  the  Lieths,  origin  of  the  tune  of,  217. 
Leudus,  a  Celtic  hymn,  397. 
Lewis,  inhabitants,  celebrated  for  archery,  223. 
Lights  of  the  Gael,  341. 
Linen,  a  Celtic  manufacture,  182. 
Lint,  its  management  in  the  Highlands,  310 
Lion,  the  badge  of  the  Celts,  196,  432— laughdolc 

mistake  concerning,  196. 
Liturgy,  Gaelic,  365. 
Loam,  a  division  of  Argyle,  54. 
Loch;iber,  gymnasium  in,  439 — axe,  209 
Lochenlour,  ancient  iron  works  at,  204. 
Lochow,  garters  made  at,  161. 


514 


INDEX. 


Locks,  wooden,  of  the  Highlanders,  379. 
Logan,  moss  of,  discovery  in,  71. 
Lon-dubh,  a  singular  animal,  -272. 
Lords  of  the  isles,  manner  of  crowning,  138 — 

mode  of  conveying  lands,  140. 
Lothian,  where  situated,  tiO. 
Luathadh,  described,  158. 
Luchdtachk,  108,  1-2G. 

Lusitani,  their  military  ardor,  108 — dancing,  438 

— marriages,  474. 
Lychlyn,  the  ancient  name  of  the  Baltic,  32.  n. 
Lyric  compositions,  prevail  in  the  Highlands,  402. 

M 

Macaladh  cattle,  125. 

Mac  Carters,  pipers  to  the  lords  of  lue  isles,  425. 

Mac  Donalds,  their  strength,  76,  77— led  the  right 
wing  of  an  army,  1 10 — of  Slate,  their  strength, 
77 — of  Glensar}',  do.  ibid. — of  Keppoch,  do. 
ibid.— of  Moidart,  do.  ibid. 

Mac  Dulothes,  their  strength,  ibid. 

Mac  Euens,  their  strength,  ibid. 

Mac  Farlane's,  gathering  of  the,  427. 

Mac  Gretrors,  clan  na  sgeulachd,  425 — their  pio- 
brachd,  427. 

Machaera,  a  sort  of  sword,  220. 

Mac  Intoshes,  their  strength,  77 — their  descent,  132. 

Mac  Kenzies,  their  strength,  7(5 — crest,  103 — pun- 
ished for  mounting  their  badge,  197 — military 
music,  429. 

Mac  Leans  of  Coll,  their  gathering,  427. 

Mac  Leods,  their  strength,  76,  77. 

Mac  Niels  of  Barra.  J31. 

Mac  Xiels,  harpers  to  the  Mac  Leans  of  Duart,  418. 
Mac  Phersons,  their  strength,  76,  77 — their  military 

success,  436. 
Mac  Swineys,  famed  for  hospitality,  336. 
Magistrates',  their  election,  136. 
Magneniife,  Celtic  legions,  their  daring  exploits,  97. 
Malefactors,  how  punished,  148 
Manchester,  ruins  at,  257. 
Mann  us,  a  German  god,  456. 
Mantle,  the  Irish,  lf3. 

Manufactures,  370  to  374, 376  to  378— adaptation  of 

the  Highlands  for, — see  Costume. 
Manures,  304. 

Manx,  their  laws,  144 — dances,  438 — funerals, 
485. 

March  ;  see  Boundary. 
Marl,  304. 

Matadh  achalaise,  a  dagger,  220. 
Meals  of  the  HighlandeVs,  33«. 
MeatJe,  56. 

Medical  knowledge,  352. 
Medicines,  ancient  MP.  on,  357. 
Marched  mulierum,  149. 
Metal,  manufacture  of,  372. 
Mhona  liath,  its  famous  deer,  274. 
Mictis,  island  of,  40. 

Milk,  substances  for  curdling,  291 — how  used, 
344. 

Mill,  hand,  313— horizontal,  ibid. 
Minstrels,  superiority  of  the  Scots,  430. 
Miricath,  117,  126. 
Mirrors,  metal,  .373. 
Misletoe,  veneration  for,  464. 
Moars,  offirers  in  the  tele  of  Man,  145. 
Mona,  or  Mf-na,  a  deity,  457. 
Mona,  the  retreat  of  the  Druids,  466. 
Moniegaff,  discoveries  at,  203. 
Moose  deer,  272 — garment  formed  of  the  skin. 
157. 

Moothills,  their  origin,  145,  453. 
Mousa,  burg  of,  263. 
Muc,  a  military  machine,  252. 
Multures,  313." 

Mungret  Abbey,  its  celebrated  choir,  408. 
Munroes.  their  force,  77 — overthrow  the  Mac  In- 
toshes, 143. 
Murrain,  how  averted,  293. 

Music,  its  origin  and  progress,  406,  &c. — its  use  in 
religion,  407 — how  taught,  409— terms  in,  ibid. 
—Irish,  410— Welsh,  411— Military  of  the 
M;ic  Kenzies,  429 — Scotish,  its  peculiar  scale,  i 
410.  j 

Musical  instruments,  413.  1 


N 

Naharvali,  their  singular  worship,  459. 

Nations  of  Europe,  their  origin, 23 — northern,  104. 

Neckcloths,  178. 

Needfire,  how  produced,  293. 

Nehelania,  a  Celtic  goddess,  457. 

Nervii,  their  force,  76 — their  cities,  242 — their  for- 
tifications, ibid. — manner  of  fortifying  a  camp, 
244 — their  temperance,  348. 

Nightingale,  its  Gaelic  appellation,  272. 

Nobility,  indicated  by  the  number  of  vassals,  120 

Nomades,  26. 

Notation,  musical,  409. 

Noth,  a  vitrified  fort,  347. 

o 

Oak,  a  native  of  Scotland,  67. 

Oatcakes,  Scotish  soldiers'  method  of  making,  322. 

Oaths,  Celtic,  IOC— Highland,  107. 

Obelisks,  sepulchral,  462. 

O'Calinanes,  famous  physicians,  358. 

Ocean,  its  encroachment,  64. 

Oigthierna,  a  title,  133. 

Ollamh,  his  course  of  study,  385 — qualification 
and  value,  386. 

Oral  record,  veneration  for,  382 — history  commit- 
ted to,  388. 

Order,  in  assemblies,  singular  mode  of  preserving, 
137 — observed  in  Highland  armies,  127 — of 
the  mountain  eagle,  198 — of  the  Thistle, 
ibid.  n. 

Ossan,  173— preasach,  180. 

Ossianic  music,  429 — poetry,  399. 

Ovates,  a  religious  order,  460. 

Oxgate,  its  extent,  300. 

P 

Painting  the  body,  151,  153— prohibited,  ibid. 
Parishes,  size  of,' in  Scotland,  471. 
Pastoral  state,  28.5— melodies,  413. 
Pasturage,  290. 

Patterns  of  tartan,  how  given,  161.  501. 

Paupers  in  the  Highlands,  335. 

Pearls,  British,  377. 

Peltae,  a  shield,  ]b9. 

Pen  pits,  singular  excavations,  312. 

Personal  appearance,  80. 

Perth,  battle  of,  213,  436. 

 Gaelic  poem  on,  404. 

Phannacy,  356. 

Phoenicians,  the  supposed  discoverers  of  Britain,  39. 
Physicians,  Scots,  hereditary,  357— their  prescripn 

tions,  ibid. 
Picardy,  excavation  at,  259. 

Picts,  53 — their  native  appellation,  258 — identity 
with  Scots,  53 — last  mention  of,  57— their 
houses,  257 — ale,  345. 

Piobmhor,  433  to  434. 

Piobrachd,  492  to  426— list  of,  427. 

Pipe,  418— lowland,  434— Irish,  ibid.— Northum- 
berland, 434 — scale  of,  435 — how  performed 
on,  ibid.  436. 

Piper,  his  duties,  423— of  Mac  Leod,  425 — of  Mac 
Donald,  ibid. 

Pipers,  competition  of,  425. 

Pistols,  238. 

Plaid,  how  worn,  168 — by  women,  181. 

Plough,  Gallic,  307— Scots,  &c.  308. 

Poems,  their  antiquity,  388 — how  preserved,  393. 

Poetic  history,  of  what  extent,  404. 

Poetry  and  music,  381. 

Poetrv,  its  influence,  383  to  385 — its  construction, 
396  to  .398— Gaelic  specimens,  400  to  404— 
manner  of  composing,  407. 

Pope,  his  ambassador  hunts  in  Athol,  281 — obser- 
vation on  his  entertainment,  342. 

Poplar  tree,  a  native  of  Scotland,  68. 

Population,  causes  affecting,  7:3 — of  Britain,  74 — 
of  Wales,  493— of  Scotland,  76— favored  by 
the  patriarchal  state,  78. 

Pork,  antipathy  to,  259. 

Pots,  <tc.  of  tlie  Highlanders,  327. 

Potter,  art  of,  among  the  Britons,  376 


INDEX. 


515 


Prescriptions,  medical,  357. 

Prosnachadli  catli,  llt2,  IIG— its  effect,  398— gari 

ach,  117,  401— fairge,  365. 
Purse,  177. 

Pythagoreans,  their  cultivation  of  the  memory, 
3(32— their  tenets,  462,  408. 

Q 

auarter-master.  Highland,  258,  326 
Cluern,  or  hand  mill,  313. 
Quivers,  how  formed,  227. 

R 

Rabbits,  275. 

Rallying  shout,  its  effect,  anecdote,  200. 
Rauz  des  vaches,  tune  of,  its  effect,  408. 
Rapparee,  his  house,  256. 
Raths,  145. 

Rats,  unknown  in  some  parts,  275. 
Rawdikes,  a  race  course,  286. 
Rechailach,  314. 

Recitation,  now  almost  unknown,  393,  399,  440. 
Recipes,  Celtic,  353— Highland,  358. 
Red  shanks,  171. 

Reels,  of  the  Scots,  described,  412,  439. 
Regiments,  Highland,  their  dress,  162 — Royal  Scots, 

carried  bow  and  arrows,  223. 
Religion,  Druidical,  460,  462  to  464. 
Rents,  how  paid,  301. 
Residence,  places  of,  their  names,  256. 
Rhapsodies,  389. 
Rhapsodists,  397. 
Rhi,  a  royal  title,  133. 
Rince-fada,  an  Irish  dance,  438. 
Rings,  Highlanders  set  stones  in,  378. 
Roasting,  manner  of,  325. 
Robertson9s  of  Struan,  their  force,  77. 
Roses,  of  Kilravock,  their  force,  ibid. 
Rosses,  their  force,  ibid. — of  Balnagowan,  their 

force,  ibid. 

Rother,  river,  ancient  vessel  discovered  in,  364. 
Round  lowers,  265 — opinions  concerning,  452. 
Roxburgh,  conduct  of  Highlanders  at,  93. 
Royal  race,  of  Picts  and  Welsh,  130. 
Rulers  of  the  war,  105. 
Running,  contentions  in,  442. 
Rungmor,  a  Highland  da-ice,  439. 
Ruthven,  the  rendezvous  of  the  Highlanders  after 
Culloden,  101. 

S 

Sacrifices,  human,  465. 

Saddles  not  in  use  by  Irish  or  Welsh,  229. 

Sagum,  1.55,  165,  179. 

St.  Andrew's,  English  archers  worsted  at,  223. 
Salisbury  plain,  massacre  at,  216 — antiquities  on, 
450,  482. 

Salt,  superstitions  concerning,  328. 
Salute,  sword,  212. 
Salute,  or  failte,  428. 

Saxons,  their  dress,  167,  183— imitation  of  Celtic 

manufactures,  157. 
Scilly  islands,  40. 

Scotland,  its  original  inhabitants,  46 — formerly 
called   Hibernia,  50 — difference  of  ancient  j 
inhabitants  accounted  for,  58 — its  former  ap-  i 
pearance,  62 — singular  geographical  features,  ' 
65,  301.  I 

Scots,  47,  48  to  58 — etymology  of,  55,  56 — their  j 
warlike  education,  92— their  struggles  for  lib- 
erty, 100 — law  founded  chiefly  on  Celtic  usa- 
ges, 143 — abstemious,  324 — their  cookery,  327 
— music,  ode  to,  432 — invented  a  method  of 
building,  255 — excel  in  poetry  and  music, 
430 — mode  of  interment,  480— burial  places, 
489. 

Sculpture,  in  Glasgow  Museum,  216 — on  obelisks, 
492. 

Scythe,  a  Gallic  invention,  310. 

Scythian,  anecdote  of  one,  182. 

Scyths,  2*1  to  28— their  symbol,  196. 

Seaforth,  Highlanders,  their  tartan,  162. 

Seal,  eaten  by  the  Highlanders,  330. 

Seanachadh,  his  duty,  3>^5,  386. 

Seaotrius,  the  Highland  hornpipe,  440.  | 


Semnones,  their  worship,  456. 
Sena,  singular  priesthood  of,  458,  460. 
Serpents'  egg,  the  Druidical  badge,  465. 
Services,  147. 
Sets  of  tartan,  161,  .501. 

Sheep,  275,  287— shearing,  ibid.— farming,  288. 
Shepherds,  289. 

Shields,  188 — how  used  as  a  signal  of  war,  104 — 
striking  of,  105,  191. 

Ships  of  the  Celts,  361— of  the  Britons,  362— an- 
cient, discovered,  364 — large  one  of  James 
IV.  367. 

Shirts,  181— regulations  of,  183. 

Shoes,  of  the  Highlanders,  172 — buckles,  178. 

Shooting,  a  favorite  diversion,  239,  280. 

Shot  pouch,  178. 

Signals  of  battle,  118. 

Singing,  Highland  manner  of,  408. 

Single  stick,  a  favourite  Highland  amusement,  440. 

Skean  dubh,  229. 

Skelig  isle,  ruins  at,  265. 

Skellater,  anecdote  of  a  Highlander  at,  218. 

Skins,  us^d  as  clothing,  154 — exported  from  Brit- 
ain, 374. 

Skull  cap,  176— of  the  Highlanders,  188. 
Sky,  Isle  of,  ruins  in,  258. 
Skythae  ;  see  Scyths. 
Slagan,  the  war  cry,  112. 

Slaves,  unknown  in  the  Highlands,  131 — Irish 

trade  in,  374. 
Slia-grannus,  a  place  of  worship,  455. 
Sliga  crechan,  336. 
Slings,  201. 

Snuff,  partiality  of  Scots  to,  350 — an  ancient  man- 
ufacture, 351 — horn  described,  ibid. 

Soap,  a  Gallic  invention,  86,  370. 

Soldurii,  Celtic  soldiers,  108,  126. 

Souls,  their  supposed  state,  42,  463. 

Spanish  swords  preferred  by  the  Highlanders,  210. 

Spear,  205 — how  denoting  war,  104 — ditto  peace, 
110— length  of  the  Scotish,  206. 

Spoil,  its  division,  105. 

Staff,  St.  Murran's,  107. 

Stalking  deer,  283. 

Standard,  battle  of,  110. 

Standards,  of  Fingal,  118- ofthe  British  tribes, 
194— of  Mac  Leod,  195— of  Mac  Pherson  of 
Cluny,  436. 

Stature,  causes  affecting,  79. 

Stewarts,  of  Appin,  their  force,  77. 

Stirling,  celebrated  for  manufacture  of  tartan,  104. 

Stockings,  173. 

Stonehenge,  temple  of,  450. 

Stones,  thrown  by  hand,  200 — weapons  formed  of, 

202 — rude,  first  symbols  of  the  gods,  449. 
Stranraer,  ancient  vessel  discovered  at,  365. 
Strath-Connan  Fillan, Society  of,  455. 
Strathspey  tunes,  412— dances,  439. 
Suessiones,  their  cities,  242. 

Suevi,  manner  of  dressing  their  hair,  84 — of  agri- 
culture, 297. 
Sun,  worship  of,  453. 
Swearing  ;  see  Oaths. 
Swine,  288. 

Sword,  207— of  the  Britons,  208— basket  hilt,  210 
— exercise,  211 — anecdotes  of  Highland  ex- 
pertness  in,  ibid. — dance,  212 — two-handed, 
213— of  silver,  lands  held  by,  216— names  of, 
241. 

T 

Tabhal,  201. 
Tacksmen,  124. 

Taibhsearachd,  or  second  sight,  461. 
Tail  of  a  chief,  108,  127. 
Tain-bo,  a  most  ancient  poem,  389. 
Taini,  persons  so  styled,  133. 
Taixaii,  their  capital,  258. 
Talisker,  sword  preserved  at,  213. 
Tanaist,  108— law  of,  !31— revenue,  134. 
Taran,  the  god  of  thunder,  457. 
Target,  Highland,  188,  189— manner  of  fighting 
with,  190. 

Tartan,  its  antiquity,  158— its  manufacture,  160  to 
163— of  the  42nd,  78th,  79th,  92nd  and  93rd 
regiments,  162— worn  by  His  Majesty  and 
Royal  Family,  163— by  H.  R.  H.  the  Diike  of 


516 


INDEX. 


PusseT,— 163,  501— table  of  the  various  clan 
patterns,  502— etymology  of  164. 

Tartan  of  the  clergy,  507 

Tasgal  money,  142. 

Teeth  of  the  Celts,  87. 

Temples,  druidical,  450. 

Tencteri,  their  advice,  251. 

Tenure  by  the  straw,  135. 

Teut,  or  Teutates,  455. 

Teutones,  their  contempt  of  death,  478. 

Thane,  133. 

Three,  respect  for  the  number,  464 
Thirlage,  313. 

Thracians,  where  situated,  29. 

Thule,  Island  of,  41. 

Thighearna,  a  title  of  honor,  133 

Timber  markets,  379. 

Tin,  isles  of,  40— its  manufacture,  371. 

Tings,  145. 

Tinning,  invented  by  the  Celts,  374. 
Tinwald  of  Man,  139,  145. 
Tokens  of  the  kings  of  Man,  ibid. 
Tolman,  459. 

Tongue,  subterraneous  work  at,  260. 
Tonnag,  a  Highland  garment,  179. 
Toscheodarach,  133. 
Toshich,  a  title  of  honor,  132. 
Towns,  Celtic,  241  to  243,  258. 
Tracery,  a  favorite  ornament,  193. 
Triads,  400. 

Tribes,  ancient  Scotish,  147. 

Tricastines,  their  order  of  battle,  111. 

Triughas,  or  trius,  170,  174,  175. 

Troddan,  castle,  261. 

Tuisto,  a  god,  19,  n.  456. 

Tunic,  166,  178. 

Turf,  how  cut,  327. 

Turnips,  used  by  the  Gauls,  318. 

Tyrebachar,  circle  at,  144,  n. 

u 

Udal,  inheritance,  135. 
Uist,  horse  races  at,  237. 
Umbrians,  33. 

Urquhart,  fortalice  of,  244 — glen,  ruins  in,  257. 
Utensils,  household,  377— osier,  379. 

V 

Vaccaei,  their  agriculture,  297. 
Vegetables,  317  to  319. 


Veneti,  their  shipping,  364. 

Verse,  its  importance,  382 — varieties  of  400. 

Vervain,  its  properties,  &,c.  355. 

Vessel,  ancient,  discovered  at  Stranraer,  365* 

Vessels,  drinking,  348. 

Vitrifications,  246. 

Voice,  88. 

w 

Waking  a  corpse,  483. 

Wales,  its  ancient  buildings,  257— the  royal  palace 
of,  258. 

Wansdike,  122— its  design,  450. 
War,  customs  in,  102  &.c. 
War  cries,  198. 
War  song,  116. 

Water  mill,  its  invention,  313 
Waulking  cloth,  158. 
Weapons,  200— legal,  by  Welsh  law,  209 
Weddings,  474. 

Welsh,  their  struggles  for  liberty,  100 — hubbub,  104 
— royal  attendants,  127,  337 — their  arms,  186 
— their  archery,  anecdotes,  221 — their  mode 
of  life,  321— agriculture,  306— temperance,  338 
— system  of  versification,  398 — military  airs, 
430— their  weddings,  475— funerals,  483. 

Whales,  used  as  food,  330. 

Wheat,  302. 

Whisky,  346— varieties  of,  347. 

Wife,  Welsh  laws  respecting  the,  149. 

Wilsford,  discoveries  at,  479. 

Winds  reverenced,  458. 

Wine,  347— berry  of  the  Gael,  ibid 

Wolf  dogs,  273. 

Wolves,  272. 

Women,  Gallic,  86— how  affected  by  tanaist  law. 
133 — Highland,  head  dress,  179 — occupatioM, 
322. 

Wood,  its  use  in  architecture,  254,  255. 
Woods  of  Britain,  63— venerated,  458,  470 
Wool,  Celtic,  155. 
Woollen,  manufacture,  155,  158. 
Wrestling,  108. 

Y 

Yeast,  how  preserved,  346. 

z 

Zythus,  a  malt  liquor,  344 


INDEX    OF  NAMES. 


A 

Abaris,  priest  of  the  Hyperborei,  156. 

Abercronibie  tartan,  502. 

Achadh,  or  Achaius,  Scots'  king,  54,  57. 

Adams,  Mr.  and  family,  destroyed  by  wolves,  273. 

Adcantuan,  his  followers,  108. 

Adoinnan,  143 — his  life  of  Columba,  Introd. 

iEmilius,  defeats  the  Gauls,  75. 

Agamemnon,  his  arms,  196. 

Alastair,  ruadh  na  cairnach,  303.  ». 

Albany,  Duke  of,  his  Highlanders,  163. 

Alcuin,  Introd. 

Alexander  the  Great,  anecdote  of,  and  the  Celts,  98. 

 his  method  of  avoiding  the 

chariot  attack,  235. 
Alexander  I.,  169,  229. 
Alexander  II.,  his  forces,  76. 
Alfred,  his  laws,  142,  143— his  songs.  383. 
Ambiorix,  his  stronghold,  242. 
Anacharsis,  the  Scyth,  28. 
Anne,Q.ueen,  227. 
Anspach,  Margrave  of,  422. 
Aodh,  his  laws,  143. 
Aonghas  a  choile,  his  murder,  427. 
Argachacoxus,  or  argentocoxus,  153. 
Argyle,  Duke  of,  his  followers,  77. 

 anecdote  of,  211. 

 defeated  in  Glenlivat,  213,  415. 

 his  barns,  31 1. 

 his  hunting,  281. 

 his  harper  and  witch,  415. 

Ariamnes,  his  liberality,  331. 
Arnot,  David,  his  archery,  459. 
Arthur,  his  prelude  of  the  salt,  328. 
Afihburton,  Lord,  360. 
Assynt,  Laird  of,  350. 

Athol,  Duke  of,  145,  281— his  hunting,  282— his 

banquet  to  James  V.  341,  342. 
Attila,  his  bards,  384. 
Aurinia,  a  German  heroine,  115. 

B 

Baillie,  Alexander,  his  archery,  ^3. 
Baird,  Lady,  her  remarkable  cure,  355. 
Balloch,  black  Donald  of  the  Isles,  his  piobrachd, 
427. 

Barwick,  his  defence  of  gunnery,  224. 
Beaton,  Neil,  a  physician,  358. 
Beli,  a  construction  of  roads,  373. 
Belovesus,  his  expedition,  21. 
Berkeley,  Lord,  305. 
Biasel,  a  pistol  maker,  239. 

Boadicea,  or  Bonduca,  her  army,  76,  252— ditto, 
how  drawn  up,  111— her  defeat,  128— her 
dress,  156,  166,  178,  179— her  influence,  115— 
her  death,  478. 

Boroimh,  Brian,  his  diadem,  373 — harp,  416. 

Both  well,  Earl,  237. 

Boulle,  Marquis  de,  239. 

Bourke,  war  cry  of,  200. 

Braidalban,  Lord,  his  gathering,  427. 

 tartan,  502. 

Brennus,  invades  Italy,  22,  89 — his  forces,  75 — 

his  body  guards,  107. 
Breusa,  William  de,  221. 
Brinno,  105. 

Britannia,  first  mention  of,  43 — how  represented, 
15-2,  139 — Romana  and  Barbaria,  49. 

Bruce,  King  Robert,  136 — his  coronation,  139 — 
his  brooch,  180— his  badge,  196. 

Brunswick,  hereditary  prince  of,  239. 

Buchanan,  badge  of,  197. 

 war  cry,  199. 

 tartan,  502. 

 Dugald,  a  bard,  406. 

Burnet,  Sir  Robert,  of  Crathes,  283. 

Butler,  war  cry  of,  199. 

c 

Caddel,  Thomas,  pistol  maker,  239. 

Csaar,  bis  invasion  of  Britain,  44,  98 — dread  of 


the  chariot  attack,  235. 
Cairbre  Riada,  settles  in  Argyle,  53. 
Caligula,  fury  of  his  Celtic  guards,  92. 
Cameron,  the  chief,  anecdote  of,  82,  141,  324. 

 badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  502. 

 Sir  Ewen,  killed  the  last  wolf  in  Scot- 
land, 272. 

 Hugh,  his  great  age,  359. 

Camillus  repulses  the  Celts,  22,  90. 

Campbell,  Sir  Archibald,  of  Clunes,  his  followers, 
77. 

 of  Glenlyon,  his  brooch,  180. 

 badge  of,  197. 

 war  cry,  199. 

 tartan,  502. 

 John,  his  bravery,  211. 

 pistol  maker,  239. 

 Alexander,  his  great  age,  360. 

 Archibald,  of  Melfort,  485. 

Caol-mhal,  a  female  name,  87. 

Caracalla,  whence  derived,  166. 

Caractacus,  or  Caradoc,  his  military  fame,  102,  110 
— his  spoils,  178 — his  fortifications,  243. 

Carrick,  Earl  of,  charter  of,  257. 

  Roland  de,  charter  to,  133. 

Cartismandua,  a  British  princess,  133. 

Cassivelaunus,  number  of  his  cars,  235 

Casswalon,  387. 

Cathmor,  his  shield,  191. 

Ceraint  ap  Grediawl,  257. 

Chandos,  Duke  of,  purchases  Gaelic  MSS.  357. 

Charlemagne,  his  dress,  167,  183 — laws  respecting 
archery,  221,  227— league  with,  51.  Introd. — 
his  collection  of  songs,  383— his  law  concern- 
ing tombstones,  482. 

Charles  the  Bold,  his  dress,  167. 

Charles  Stewart,  Prince,  110 — his  welcome  and 
salute,  428. 

Chevalier,  his  muster-roll,  78. 

Childeric,  King  of  France,  his  grave,  480. 

Chisholm,  badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  502. 

Chonodoniarius,  his  dress,  187. 

Civilis,  a  German  prince,  his  exploits,  84,  101. 

Clan  Ronald,  Lord  of,  his  prosnachadh  fairge,  365 

Clark,  badge  of,  198. 

 George,  anecdote  of,  421,  423. 

 Kennedy,  a  piper,  424. 

Claudia  Rufina,  a  British  lady,  her  beauty,  87. 

Clovis,  anecdote  of,  105. 

Coefi,  a  Druid,  448. 

Coel,  313. 

Coll  ap  coll  frewi,  303. 
Colquhon,  badge  of,  197. 
 tartan,  502. 

Columba,  his  curach,  363 — his  altercation  with 

the  Pictish  king,  408. 
Comontoire,  a  Gallic  king,  91. 
Conan,  his  grave  discovered  by  a  bardic  song,  395. 
Conceun,  498. 

Conlocli,  a  famous  warrior,  207. 
Coote,  Sir  Eyre,  anecdote,  420. 
Correus,  his  bravery,  96. 
Cormac,  Saint,  his  voyage,  362. 
Cranston,  war  cry  of,  199. 

Cristeed,  Sir  Richard,  his  account  of  the  Irish 

kings,  339. 
Cromarty,  Lord,  162. 

Cromwell,  his  opinion  of  the  Scotish  soldiers,  334. 
Cronan, a  bard,  407. 
Crothar,  his  hall,  256. 

Cuchullin,  or  Cuthullin,  tradition  respecting,  205 

—his  chariot,  233. 
Cumberland,  Duke  of,  239. 
Cummin,  badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  ,502. 

Gumming,  John  Roy,  a  musician,  413. 

D 

Ball,  Rory,  a  harper,  417 
Dalrumpil,  Duncan,  grant  to,  134. 


518 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Dalrymple,  Sir  John,  his  opinion  of  the  Highland- 
ers, 101. 
Dalzel,  tartan,  50-2. 
Darius,  his  expedition,  27. 
Darthiila,  a  female  name,  97 

David  I.  his  gardening,  70— judged  for  the  poor, 
144. 

Davidson,  badge  of,  198. 

Davy,  Sir  Humphry,  on  destruction  of  forests,  70. 
Dempster,  George,  letter  on  vitrification,  247. 
Derby,  Earl  of,  l.io. 

Desmond,  Earl  of,  attachment  of  his  followers,  107. 

—  his  rent,  131. 

 war  cry,  200. 

Divitiacus,  a  Celtic  chief,  44. 

Donald  of  the  Isles,  at  siege  of  Roxburgh,  94. 

 order  of  battle  at  Hariaw,  111. 

 his  bards,  117,  392— his  form  of  charter, 

140. 

Donn,  John,  a  bard,  lament  for,  428 

 Robert,  a  bard,  406. 

Douglas,  Earl,  172. 

 war  cry  of,  198. 

 tartan,  502. 

Drummond,  badge  of,  197. 

.  tartan,  502. 

 H.  Home,  286. 

Dunmorix,  his  horsemen,  281. 
Dunbar,  259. 

Dunwallo,  an  agriculturist,  307. 
Dvonisins,  his  Gallic  mercenaries,  anecdotes  of, 
92,323. 

E 

Edgar,  Atheling,  his  alliance  with  Scotland,  61. 
Edi,  laws  of,  143, 

Edward  I.  his  devastation  of  Scotland,  68,  71. 

 cairies  off  the  "  fatal  stone,"  138. 

Eider,  badge  of,  198. 

Elizabeth,  warrant  of,  in  favor  of  archery,  223. 
Eltud,  an  agriculturist,  295,  308. 
Erach,  his  adventure,  461. 
3Ercctlicus  29. 

Errol,  Eari  of,  fights  at  Glenlivat,  213. 

Etas,  killed  in  a  tumult,  103. 

Ethfin,  the  laws  of,  143. 

Eumolpus,  his  treaty  with  Erectheus,  29. 

F 

Farquharson,  of  Invercauld,  his  opinion  of  the  fir- 
tree,  67. 

 badge  of,  198. 

 war  cry,  199 

 tartan,  502. 

 Mr.  his  Gaelic  MSS. 

Ferrara,  Andrea,  celebrated  sword  maker,  210. 
Ferdinand,  Prince  of  Brunswick,  239. 
Fergus  Mac  Eire,  King  of  Argyle,  54. 
Ferguson,  badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  503. 

Ferus,  his  belt,  219. 

Fife,  Earl  of,  his  armory,  213— his  deer  forest,  274. 
Fin  Mac  Coul,  his  dress,  157. 
Finan,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  his  mannei  of  build- 
ing, 255. 

Fingal,  his  dogs,  278— his  hunters,  279— his  so- 
norous voice,  87— his  shield,  192— his  stand- 
ard, 194— his  sword,  241— his  medical  cup, 
353— his  remark  on  drinking,  350. 

Finlay,  471. 

Fitz  Maurice,  war  cry  of,  199. 
Flanders,  Count  of,  war  cry,  199. 
Fleming,  war  cry  of,  200. 
Fletcher,  John,  his  singular  death,  486 

 Peter,  his  funeral,  486. 

Forbes,  badge  of,  197. 

 war  cry,  199. 

 tartan,  503. 

 Sir  Charles,  curious  sword,  Tntrod. 

 of  Culloden,  his  followers,  77. 

 his  hospitality,  336. 

 of  Brux,  anecdote  of,  217. 

Forgeson,  James,  his  mission,  222. 
Praoch,  his  sword,  209. 
Fraser,  badge  of,  197. 

 war  cry,  199. 

 tartan,  503. 

 Mrs.  of  Culbokie,  her  Gaelic  MSS.  393- 


G 

Gardyn,  Beatrix,  her  harp,  415. 

Gairden,  Peter,  anecdote,  209 — his  great  age,  359 

Galba,  a  Celtic  prince,  J05. 

Galgacus,  a  Caledonian  prince,  106. 

Gallus,  killed  in  a  tumult,  103. 

Gaul,  his  war  song,  116 — his  banner,  195— his 

war  cry,  200. 
 a  physician,  353. 

Geraldine,  Lord  Thomas,  incited  to  rebellion  by  a 

bardic  song,  .384. 
Gibbon,  his  opinion  of  Ossian's  poems,  389. 
Gildas,  Albanius,  his  learning,  143. 
Gilderoy,  a  cearnach,  108. 
Gillescop,  his  ravages,  255. 
Gillespie,  More,  his  tenure,  216. 
GilIo,Tancoulard  Mac  Tuathal,  Gaelic  MS.  of, 92. n. 
Gordon,  Duke  of,  his  woods,  67— his  followers,  77 
— anecdote  of,  426. 

 badge  of,  197 — war  cry,  198. 

 tartan,  503. 

 Lord  Lewis,  his  troops,  anecdotes  of,  112 

 of  Bucky,  his  sword,  210. 

 Cuthbert,  his  dyestuffs,  161,  380. 

 Alexander,  a  wizard,  303.  n. 

Graham,  badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  503. 

Grant,  badge  of,  197. 

 war  cry,  199. 

 tartan,  503. 

 Laird  of,  his  woods,  67. 

 of  Balindalish,  his  followers,  IT 

 John,  of  Freuchie,  charter  to,  244. 

 his  great  age,  360. 

Gregory  the  Great,  his  death,  248. 

Gryfyth  ap  Cynan,  a  Welsh  translator,  130— regu- 
lates the  bards,  388— introduced  Irish  music 
into  Wales,  411,  414. 

Gunn,  badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  503. 

Gwendollen,  a  Caledonian  Druid,  470. 

H 

Halkston,  of  Rathillet,  anecdote,  324. 

Hamilton,  Duke  of,  lament  for,  429. 

Hannibal,  his  usage  of  the  Celts,  88,  93 — deference 

to,  88 — dissolution  of  rocks,  469. 
Hay,  badge  of,  197. 
 tartan,  503. 

Henry  II.,  his  observation  respecting  the  Welsh, 

100 — entertainment  at  Dublin,  255. 
Hepburn,  war  cry  of,  199. 
Herod,  his  Celtic  guards,  92. 
Hertha,  her  worship,  107. 
Hiffernan,  war  cry  of,  201. 
Hill,  a  translator  of  Ossian's  poems,  391. 
Hoath,  Lord,  his  accident,  475. 
Howard,  Lord,  his  company  defeated.  222. 
Hungus,  a  Pictish  king,  57. 

Huntlv,  Earl  of,  defeats  Earl  of  Argyle,  213 — hunts 

with  the  king,  281. 
Hnssey,  war  cry  of,  200. 
Hu  yeil,  Prince,  his  invocation,  469. 

I 

Ida,  King  of  Northumberland,  invades  Scotland, 
60. 

Innes,  Margaret,  her  great  age,  359. 
Irvine,  of  Drum,  his  arms,  196. 

J 

James  I.,  an  excellent  harper,  414. 
James  III.,  his  use  of  tartan,  1.59. 
James,  IV.,  his  immense  ship,  367. 
James  v.,  his  hunting,  281. 

James  VII.,  his  reception  in  Ireland,  438 — his  sa- 
lute, 427. 
Jean  Petit,  a  pistol  maker,  239. 
John,  Pope,  letter  from  the  Scots  to,  100. 

 Bishop  of  Glasgow,  disbursement  for  tartan, 

159. 

Johnstone,  war  cry  of,  199. 
Josephus,  his  opinion  of  the  Celts,  91. 

K 

Kennedy,  James,  charter  to,  133. 
Kerry,  knight  of,  war  cry,  200. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


519 


Kiannan,  St.  his  doniliag,  2f)5. 
Kildare,  Earls  of,  war  cry,  199. 
King,' Mr.,  his  opinions  respecting  architecture, 
249 

L 

Lachlanson,  John,  grant  of,  134. 
Lamont,  badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  50:}. 

 Laird  of,  his  harp,  415,  416. 

 of  Cowal,  anecdote,  333. 

Leeth,  Robert,  his  surve}'  of  Ireland,  362. 

Leinster,  Duke  of,  motto,  199. 

Leitcli,  Mr.,  ehservations  on  the  Highlands,  69. 

Lenogh,  Tirlogh,  Lord  of  Ulster,  174. 

Lennox,  Duke  of,  his  war  cry,  198. 

Loarn,  a  king  of  Argyle,  54. 

Logan,  badge  of,  197. 

 war  cry,  503. 

 tartan,  503. 

Loundres,  Archbishop,  extinguishes  the  sacred 
fire,  454. 

Lovat,  Lord,  his  followers,  77 — his  purse,  177 — 
his  pipe-march,  431 — his  hospitality,  337 — ac- 
cused of  raptus,  475. 

LucuUus  brouglit  ciierry  trees  to  Italy,  69 

Lumsden,  of  Clowach,  his  rent,  301. 

Luernius,  his  profusion,  331. 

Luno,  son  of  Leven,  description  of,  372. 

Lycurgus,  his  observation  on  long  hair,  84 

M 

Mac  Ailean  Oiz,  Raonuil,  428— lament  for,  429. 
Mac  Alastair,  badge  of.  197 — tartan,  504. 
Mac  Allisdrum,  his  march,  480 
Mac  Alpin,  392. 

 Kenneth,  57,39,  143. 

Mac  Aoidh,  or  Mac  Kay,  badge  of,  197 — tartan,  405. 

Mac  Aongi>!,  Alastair,  405. 

Mac  Art,  Corinac,  313. 

Mac  Aulay,  badge  of,  197 — tartan,  504. 

Mac  Bane,  Gillies,  his  heroism,  95. 

Mac  Bean,  badge  of,  198. 

 ■  '  John,  218. 

Mac'Beth,  Fergus,  357. 
Mac  Carthv,  war  cry  of,  199. 
Mac  Codruin,  anecdote  of,  390,  392. 
Mac  Connal,  Angus,  105. 
Mac  Grain,  Gilour,  his  great  age,  359. 
Mac  Donald,  badge  of,  197— war  crv,  199— tartan, 
504. 

 Sir,  Alexander,  70. 

 oftlie  Isles,  110. 

 of  Barisdale.  88.  108. 

 ■  of  Boisdale.  his  salute,  428. 

 of  Clan  Rannald,  95,  n. 

 of  Keppoch,  anecdotes,  82,  110,  140, 

303.  n. 

 of  Killepheder,  390,  392. 

 Alexander,  117,  179,  430,  430. 

 Sir,  70. 

 Donald,  Sir,  of  Slate,  194. 

 of  Aberarder,  333. 

 Flora,  her  age,  359. 

 Captain,  anecdote  of,  211. 

 Do.  of  Mov,  333. 

 Do.  John,  391. 

 Tohn,  his  age,  360. 

 John  Breac,  96. 

 John  Lom,  28,  405. 

 Murdoch,  Clarsair,  417. 

 Shelah,  404. 

Mac  Donell,  3i5. 

 war  cry  of,  199.  ti. 

 tartan,  504. 

 piobrachd,  427. 

 the  Irish  piper,  424. 

 Peter,  393. 

Mac  Dougal,  Allan,  270. 

 of  Lorn,  180. 

 badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  504. 

MacDruivel,  his  hratach,  195. 
Mac  DuflT,  132— badge  of,  198— tartan,  504. 
Mac  Duffaidh,  ensign  staff,  195. 
Mac  Farlane,  badge  of,  197— war  cry,  199— tartan. 
504. 


Mac  Gilli  Riabhacli,  392. 

.Mac  Gillivray,  badge  of,  198— tartan,  504. 

Mac  Gillpatrick,  war  cry,  200. 

Mac  Glassan,  his  dancing,  439. 

Mac  Gregur,  badge  of,  iy7--war  cry,  199-tartan,505 

 of  GlenstHE,  333. 

 Captain,  207. 

 John,  405. 

 John  Dubh  Gear,  405. 

 Rob  Roy,  108. 

Mac  Guire,  147. 

Mac  Hardy,  Mrs.  213. 

Mac  Intosh,  badge  of,  198.  > 

 war  cry,  199. 

 tartan,  505. 

 lament,  428. 

 defeated  by  the  Munros,  143. 

 by  Keppoch,  140. 

 James,  Anecdote,  417. 

 Sir  Eneas,  funeral  of,  488. 

Mac  Intyre,  Duncan,  a  bard,  395,  406. 

 John,  a  piper,  428. 

Mac  Kay,  charter  to,  140. 

 piper  to  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  423 

 George,  a  piper,  434. 

Mac  Kennedy,  John,  charter  to,  133. 
Mac  Kenzie,  badge  of,  197 — war  cry,  199. 

 tartan,  505. 

 Earl  of  Cromarty,  162. 

 Kenneth,  a  bard,  406. 

 Lord  Seaforth,  lfi2. 

 Roderick,  his  heroism,  126. 

Mac  Kinnon, badge  of,  197 — tartan,  505. 
Mac  Lachlan,  badge  of,  197. 

 tartan,  505 

 salute,  428. 

 Ewen,  406. 

Mac  Lean,  badge  of,  197 — tartan,  505. 

 Laird  of.  111. 

 of  Coll,  431,  471. 

 Allan  na  sohp,  431. 

 John  Garbh,  of  CoU,  417. 

Mac  Lennan,  220. 

MacLeod,  badge  of,  197— tartan,  505— salute  and 
lament,  428. 

 his  ensign,  195. 

 Lord,  162. 

 Donald,  anecdotes,  211. 

 Rev.  214,  390. 

 Mary,  a  bard,  403,  404. 

 Sir  Norman,  deed  of,  125.  ?!. 

Mac  Mhuireach,  Lachlan,  117 

 Niei,  391,  332. 

Mac  Milcon,  Bruidhi,  470. 

Mac  Murrogh,  his  horse,  229. 

Mac  Nab,  badge  of,  197— tartan,  505. 

 burial  place,  489. 

Mac  Naughtan,  badge  of,  197 — tartan,  505 
Mac  Nessa,  Concovar,  king  of  Ulster,  385. 
Mac  Nicol,  Dnncha  Rioch,  391. 
Mac  Niel,  badge  of,  197 — tartan,  505. 

 his  castle,  252. 

 James,  133. 

 Lachlan,  386. 

 Niel,  133. 

Mac  Pherson,  badge  of,  198 — war  cry,  199 — gath- 
ering, 427— tartan,  506. 

 of  Cluny,  212,  239. 

 his  chanter,  436. 

 his  tartan,  506. 

 of  Crathy,  213. 

 Alexander  the  revengeful,  259. 

 Donald,  his  sword,  213. 

 letter  on  clanship,  Introd 

 Ewen,  anecdote,  390. 

 James,  220. 

 his  armor,  212. 

 his  lament,  431. 

 Malcolm,  a  bard,  391,  393. 

 of  Strathmasie,  405. 

Mac  auarie,  badsre  of,  197- tartan,  506 
Mac  Q,ueen,  badge  of,  198. 
Mac  Rimmon,  anecdote,  423. 

 Captain,  425. 

Mac  Ronald,  Callum  garbh,  366. 
Mac  Ruari,  Ailen,  .395. 
Mac  Swein,  war  cry  of,  200. 


520 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Mac  Tyre,  Paul,  his  Dun,  247. 

Mac  Varus,  367. 
Malcolm,  m. 

 Ceanmore,  61. 

Malmiitius,  a  legislator,  295. 

Mannus,  tlie  parent  god  of  the  Germans,  30.  n. 

Manos,  a  Caledonian,  106. 

Mar,  Earl  of,  his  targe,  191. 

 his  gun,  238. 

 anecdote,  211. 

Margaret,  Ciiieen  of  Scotland,  61. 
Marias  defeats  the  Celts,  90. 
Mark,  Provost  ^f  Banfl',  212. 
Marriage  ceremonies,  472. 

Mary,  Queen,  her  hunting,  283 — her  harp,  415, 445. 

 the  virgin,  partial  to  the  bagpipes,  419. 

Maud,  Queen  of  Connaught,  her  procession,  373. 

Menander,  a  Scyth,  29.  »i. 

Menelaus,  his  arms,  196. 

Menzies,  badge  of,  198— tartan,  506. 

 Sir  Thomas,  his  pearl,  378. 

Mercers,  their  war  cry,  199. 
Merddyn,  a  Caledonian  Druid,.470. 
Meyrick,  Dr.,  his  armory,  204. 
Moelnius,  a  legislator,  295. 
Moina,  179. 

Molloy,  Dr.,  hospitality  of  his  ancestor,  33b 

Montgomery,  Arniilph  de,  55. 

Montrose,  Duke  of,  obtains  repeal  of  law  against 

Highland  dress,  184. 
Morddal  Gwr  Gweilgi,  257. 
Morrison,  Roderick,  a  harper,  417. 
Munich,  Count,  240. 

Munro,  badae  of,  198 — war  cry,  199 — tartan,  506. 

 of  Culcairn,  anecdote,  126. 

 John,  defeats  Mac  Intoshes,  143. 

Murdoch,  John,  239. 

Murray,  badge  of,  198— tartan,  506. 

 Lord,  103,  162. 

 —  Regent,  his  portrait,  173. 

 bonnie  Earl  of,  210. 

 Elizabeth,  her  longevity,  359. 

N 

Nechtan,  his  literary  correspondence  with  Ceol- 

frid,  Introd. 
Nehelania,  a  Celtic  deity,  457. 
Nelan,  an  Irish  bard,  anecdote,  384. 
Nennius,  his  history,  Introd. 

Nicholas,  his  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews, 
378. 

Nigel,  Earl  of  Carrick,  133. 

o 

O'Brian,  war  cry  of,  199. 

  of  Thomond,  136. 

  Murcertach,  146. 

  Murrough,  his  execution,  124. 

 his  horse,  229. 

O'Carrol,  war  cry  of,  200. 
O'Daly,  Doncha,  a  bard,  407, 
O'Duff,  Bri^n,  bis  lament,  429. 
O'Kane,  a  harper,  4i5,  417. 
Ogilvie,  badge  of,  !98— tartan,  506. 
Oliphant,  badge  of,  198, 
O'Neal,  war  cry  of,  199. 

  his  oath,  107. 

 Sir  Arthur,  plundered,  294 

 solicits  aid  to  expel  Scots,  303. 

 hospitality,  336. 

 his  sitting  in  state,  376. 

Orgetorix,  133. 
Oscar,  188,  189. 

Ossian,  his  poems,  vindicated,  388,  et  seq. 

 known  to  tl)e  Lowlanders,  390. 

 performed  in  dramas,  .399. 

 his  gra%'e,  395. 

O'Sullivan,  war  cry  of,  200. 
Oswy,  King  of  Northum-berland,  60. 

P 

Palladius,  first  bishop  of  the  Scots,  51. 
Patrick,  St.,  his  dispute  with  Ossian,  470. 
Perth,  Highlanders  of,  their  numbers,  77. 
Polybius,  his  observation  on  the  Gallic  wars,  91. 
Porevith,  god  of  spoil,  207. 
Ptolemy,  overthrown  by  the  Celts,  22. 
Pytheas,  the  discoverer  of  Britain,  41. 


R 

Ramsay,  Alexander,  259. 
Rea,  Lord,  140. 

Rederch,  king  of  Strathelyde,  284,  377 
Reuthamor,  179. 

Robertson,  badge  of,  198— tartan,  506 

 of  Lude,  anecdote  of,  211. 

 harps  of,  416,  417. 

 Captain,  212. 

Roderick,  last  king  of  Ireland,  146. 
Rose,  badge  of,  198 — tartan,  507. 

 of  Kilravock,  his  followers,  77. 

Ross,  badge  of,  197— tartan,  507. 
 William,  a  bard,  406. 

Roy,  Rob,  his  funeral,  488— his  son  hanged  for 

abduction,  475. 
Ruthven,  presumed  origin  of  the  name,  Introd. 

s 

Samuel,  a  piper,  lament  for,  428 
"Sam,  big,"  81. 

Scot,  of  Buccleuch,  war  cry  of,  199. 
Scott,  provost  of  Banff,  212. 

 Sir  Walter,  212,  213.  Introd. 

 Michael,  a  wizard,  303.  n. 

Scotland,  kings  of,  war  cry  of,  199. 
Seaforth,  Lord,  his  followers,  77— his  regiment, 
162. 

Shaw,  badge  of,  198. 

 James,  a  bard,  471. 

Shiel,  pistol  maker,  239. 
Sinclair,  badge  of,  197 — tartan,  507. 
Sigovesus,  a  Celtic  chief,  92. 
Sithama,  a  Druid,  his  speech,  88,  n. 
Smyth,  Sir  John,  223. 

Stanley,  Sir  John,  his  duties  as  king  of  Man,  145 
Stewart,  badge  of,  198— tartan,  507. 

 General,  on  the  origin  of  clanship,  121. 

 Mary,  133. 

 John  Roy,  a  bard,  405. 

 Alexander  &  Donald,  their  poems,  406. 

Steuart,  in  Avenside,  anecdote  of,  218 — of  Appin, 

his  followers,  77. 
Stone,  Jerome,  a  translator  of  Ossian's  poems,  391. 
Stratherne,  Earl  of,  anecdote  of,  186. 
Sussex,  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of,  his  tartan,  163,  501 
Sutherland,  badge  of,  198— tartan,  507. 
 Lord,  his  troops,  77. 

T 

Tabourner,  Stephen,  his  archery,  223. 

Talliesin,  a  Welsh  bard,  468 — his  grave,  482. 

Taylor,  his  description  of  a  Highland  hunting,  281 

Thompson,  John,  223. 

Titus,  his  opinion  of  the  Germans,  91. 

Turner,  John,  212— his  poems,  413. 

Tyrconnel,  his  regiments,  81. 

Tyrone,  his  troops,  105,  1 1 1— plundered,  294. 

Tyrtseus,  effect  of  his  songs,  384. 

u 

Umad,  his  lamentation,  278. 
Urguist,  a  Pictish  princess,  57. 
Urquhart,  badge  of,  198— tartan,  507. 

V 

Veleda,  a  heroine,  115,  133  —  her  habitation,  265. 
Vercingetorix,  a  Gallic  chief,  110. 
Veremundus,  an  ancient  historian,  Introd. 
Vergasilanus,  ditto,  194. 
Viriathus,  curious  account  of,  109. 

w 

Wade,  General,  his  list  of  the  Highland  forces, 
77 — receives  the  arms  of  the  Highlanders,  240 
Wallace,  139,  176,  210— portrait,  159. 
Wedderburn,  John,  his  archery,  233. 
Wemys,  David,  of  that  ilk,  his  archery,  ibid, 
We^t,  Sir  Benjamin,  his  opinion  of  tartan,  161, 165. 
William  the  Lion,  his  portrait,  1.S9, 
Williams,  his  notice  of  vitrifications,  246. 

Y 

York,  Duke  of,  his,  "  Own  Highlanders,"  162. 

z 

Zamalxis,  a  learned  Scyth,  29,  n. 


50177 


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